Evolution
by TidalDragon87
Summary: Events in James Potter and Lily Evans's fifth year at Hogwarts have sown seeds of change. How will friendships and futures be affected? Begins in sixth year and ends post-graduation. Slow burn.
1. Ain't No Sunshine

On his first morning home from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, James Potter awoke to the sound of rolling thunder. He rubbed his eyes and stretched his arms upward and then out, grabbing his glasses from his bedside table. "Splendid day," he muttered and hauled himself out of bed, staring through his rain-soaked window at the dark clouds over the Potter estate. Scanning the room for his sitting robe, James allowed his thoughts to wander to the day ahead. Doubtless his parents had already left for another day of inspiring work at the Ministry. His friends were settling in with their own families. For the time being, James felt as if the clouds were a heavy lid, keeping his energy bottled up still longer and somehow magnifying the weight of the frustrations that had characterized the end of his recently-concluded fifth year.

Everything had been going swimmingly until May. He, Sirius Black, and Peter Pettigrew had helped their good friend and sometime werewolf, Remus Lupin, through the last full moon of the school year. Gryffindor had been in line to finally wrest back the Quidditch Cup from Slytherin with James in fine form at Chaser and Sirius once again proving deadly accurate with the Bludgers. He had even successfully balanced hexing Severus Snape at regular intervals, while escaping the ire of Snape's sworn protector, Lily Evans. All while avoiding an excessive amount of time spent in detention.

The crack of a particularly bright bolt of lightning roused James from this early-morning introspection. He quickly donned the maroon and gold sitting robe, which he had found pressed between his trunk and closet door, and started down the two flights of stairs separating his bedroom and the Potters' kitchen. As he passed another exquisitely rendered family portrait on the landing between the first and second floors, James could finally smell the tantalizing combination of brewing coffee and frying bacon. Following the aroma down the last flight of stairs, around the corner, and through the back hallway off which the family's inner courtyard sat, he saw the Potters' house-elf, Tinka, standing over several pans on the stove. James closed his eyes and inhaled deeply.

"Master James!" exclaimed the startled creature. "Tinka had not expected Master to be up so early on your first morning home!"

"They don't call me the 'Master of Surprises' at school for nothing," James replied, an amused smile brightening his face for a moment. "At any rate, I'd happily wait all morning for your cooking. Mum tries her best, but she just can't fry a strip of bacon quite like you."

The words of praise immediately sent the small, gray-skinned creature into a flurry of thanks, as she wrung her knobby hands excitedly on the dirty garment that stretched from her shoulders to just above her knees. "Is there anything Tinka can get for Master James while he waits?"

"Don't think so," James said casually, sitting down at the head of the table and picking him the copy of _The Daily Prophet_ his father had left behind.

The front page was dreadfully boring. More lines wasted on the Minister of Magic's expected departmental appointments and Anglo-American Wizarding Relations. Seeking out the Quidditch insert, James was disappointed to find it thinner than normal. "Useless rag," he grumbled before tossing it away. "All league rumors and injury updates. Not a word about the start of qualifying. Wish I could owl the editor."

Without the paper to distract him, James's thoughts returned to May. It all started going downhill the third weekend when the team had lost the Quidditch Cup. The match with Ravenclaw had lasted forever. All that was needed was a fifty point win. James had managed to tally fifteen goals and five assists throughout the match, but somehow the Ravenclaw Seeker had beaten their man to the Snitch. Gryffindor still won the match, but only 360-320.

Then there was the incident with Snape. No…Snivellus. Calling him by any given name at all was too much credit for a dark wizard in the making. James had always had a problem with him. Fair enough. But by now the dislike was more than deserved. So was the hexing. Even if it was humiliating and mean-spirited. And to think of what he called Lily Evans, after all she'd done for him, even that very day. To call her a mudblood? Just thinking about it made James clinch his fists in fury.

But of course, there she was again. Lily Evans. The girl was exasperating. To put his hexing Snivellus and confident, fun-loving attitude on par with a piece of scum that was destined for Azkaban. James couldn't understand her. He certainly hadn't managed to impress her, no matter how hard he tried. That thought made him burn in a different way. James blinked and looked up. Tinka was waiting with a plate of scrambled eggs, bacon, and a muffin in one hand and a cup of coffee in the other.

"Merlin, Tinka!" James said, more harshly than intended. "How long have you been standing there?"

"Only five minutes. Tinka is truly sorry for interrupting Master James," the elf began, "it's just that…Tinka knows Master James has been waiting…"

Removing the scowl that had been firmly planted on his face, James tried to reassure the frazzled creature. "No need to apologize. Too much on my mind this morning."

Tinka took this as the right moment to leave James to his thoughts. As her young Master began to dig in to the food she had laid before him, Tinka crept backward toward the stove and counters, where much cleaning awaited. "Of course, Master James. Tinka hopes you will enjoy your breakfast."

"Tinka," James said suddenly. "You serve my father in his study often don't you?"

"Yes, of course, Master James," the elf replied. "Tinka serves wherever and whenever her family needs her."

James leaned back in his chair and fixed his gaze on a point in the distance. "What does my father do when he's working in his study?" he asked, running his hand through his already messy hair.

"Sir?" the elf inquired reluctantly. "Tinka…Tinka does not know how to answer. Usually when Tinka is called, Master Francis is just…sitting."

"Thank you, Tinka," James said, casting his eyes back to his plate as the puzzled house-elf slipped away.

James's thoughts quickly returned to his red-haired classmate. When they had started school together, she seemed to have a problem with him straightaway. She had been fun to pick on in her own way. Always in the library or with her nose in a book in the common room, studying. Always following the rules. It was no wonder she'd been made a prefect last year. She had always seemed shy around the boys at school as well. Aside from Snivellus, James thought darkly.

James took a large bite out of one of his slices of bacon. Tinka had outdone herself. He leaned back, staring into the high ceiling. Evans and her shyness around boys. That was what had made he and Sirius's idea for another way to tease her so brilliant. Asking her out constantly. Of course, she always refused, but it was all in fun so James never took it as a blow. Until last year. Until that moment she displayed a kind of fire he had never seen before. Maybe she was partly right. Maybe James was arrogant. But he had never been told off so thoroughly or judged so harshly by…well really by anyone in his life. Certainly not a girl his own age. As James Potter sat in his kitchen and took another bite of his breakfast, he suddenly realized the meaning of the burning he felt when he thought of her. It wasn't just a game anymore. Somehow, Lily Evans was the one who got into _his_ head.

**A/N: First of all, thank you for starting reading this story! I do want to repeat two warnings from the summary and category information up top. First, because I know this immediately turns certain readers off, J/L is not the only relationship for those characters in this story. The J/OC and L/OC relationships are also going to be treated seriously – not just as tools to advance J/L. Accordingly, getting to J/L will be a slow burn. If you're looking for a quick fix, this story is not for you. If you're looking for a believable story of how J/L came to be after the incident covered in "Snape's Worst Memory" and what their relationship may have looked like, right up to the end, that's what I'm aiming for. I hope you enjoy it!**


	2. The End of the Line

Dozens of miles away and almost an entire summer later, Lily Evans found herself thumbing through a stack of letters on her desk at home. She counted them again, as if knowing the number would somehow help her. "Thirty-seven," she spoke aloud to no one in particular. Lily sighed. These letters, of course, all came from one person. Severus Snape. Lily hadn't seen Severus all summer. She had all but ignored him when he tried to say goodbye at school and again as they exited the Hogwarts Express at Kings Cross Station. After years of close friendship and an entire summer away from one another, the first since they were nine, she couldn't stop reliving moments from the previous school year.

Far from being the quiet, picked-on schoolboy he had always been before, Severus had changed. He had always taken a certain interest in the darker materials in the restricted section at Hogwarts, but when she saw him leaving those stacks last September, it was the first time he wasn't alone. He was with two Slytherin house-mates, Avery and Mulciber, both of whom had a well-known interest in dark magic and similarly well-known views on the importance of blood purity. Worse, from the bizarre wand movements he was surreptitiously showing them, he appeared to be teaching them spells of some kind. Hexes, she thought sadly.

Lily had always tried to stand up for her best friend when he had been picked on, pranked, or hexed by James Potter and his gang of prats in years past, but last year, Severus always seemed dismissive of it. He insisted on fighting his own fights. As much as she hated to admit it, as the year went on, he started to instigate fights with Potter on his own. Though they never seemed to come off, it was clear to Lily that Severus was trying to best Potter with a different kind of magic than most students at Hogwarts were familiar with.

It had all come to a head toward the end of May. Potter, encouraged by his chief accomplice, Sirius Black and ignored, much to Lily's chagrin, by their only shared friend, Remus Lupin, had hexed Severus again. This time it was with one of the strange spells that Severus had tried to use against Potter before. She had been able to put a stop to it at first. Potter even had the gall to use her care for Severus to try and get a date out of her. She had shot him down immediately, but at least Potter had let Severus down. But rather than thank her, even later, privately, Severus had said it. He had called her that name. She shuddered reliving it. Severus, her best friend since age nine, had called her a mudblood. Lily had been furious. She had told them both off before storming away.

The thirty-seven letters she now held in her hands were thirty-seven separate attempts over the nearly two months they had been out of school to apologize. The letters were lengthy. Pleading. Increasingly desperate. And of course, living so close to one another, Severus had tried to apologize in person. She had tried to internalize his words. She had tried to find a way to accept them. But the more Lily thought about them, the further she moved away from forgiveness. After all they had shared together, Severus simply missed the point every single time. While the name had stung, cut even, coming from him, the problem was bigger than that. Severus had changed. He was no longer the resilient victim, he was no longer the boy she had met so long ago, with a pure love for all of magic. He was bitter. He was aggressive. He was being slowly consumed by darkness. The slur? A cruel, hateful word. But the problem was what it meant about who Severus had become. As she counted the letters a final time, Lily realized that the person he had become was a person she simply couldn't reconcile with.

With a quill in her hand, and parchment on the table, she began to write:

_15 July 1976_

_ Severus:_

_ I know you stopped by many times this summer to try and see me. I know Petunia sent you away. I got your thirty-seven letters, trying to apologize for what happened in May._

_ This summer without you has been painful. There have been so many times that I have wanted to write you or find you. But something has always stopped me. No matter how bad Petunia has gotten or how lonely I've been, I keep running into a wall. Your letters have all told me how much you value me as a friend and as a witch. I've read as you've poured your heart into those pages, apologizing for the pain you caused me when you called me that terrible name._

_ Still, the pain that moment caused me is nothing compared the pain associated with what I realized before starting this letter. We have been friends since we were nine. I know your life at home in Spinner's End has been a hard one and I know that while Hogwarts has magic, your life there is not much better. As your friend, I always tried to help you. I always tried to make it better._

_ But you've changed. You didn't turn to me for support after a hexing. You turned to the books in the restricted section. You didn't turn to me for comfort when your spirits fell. You turned to plans for revenge on Potter and Black and anybody else who hurt you. You didn't turn to friendship in your worst moment. You turned to hate._

_ You see, before I started writing this letter, I realized that it was never the slur that was stopping me. It was what it meant about you. I am afraid for you Severus. I am afraid of how the magic you keep chasing is changing you. I am afraid of the effect of the company you keep. I am afraid that if our friendship wasn't strong enough to keep you from turning to hate, then you are being consumed by darkness, from inside and out._

_ When you turned that hatred on me in May, I didn't want to see it. But I can't ignore it anymore. I can't justify our friendship anymore when any common values we ever had are so withered away._

_ Please don't try to change my mind. You'd only be wasting your time._

_ Lily_

When she finished writing, Lily set down her quill and cried. Before she could stop them, several had managed to splash the page. Finally, as her sobs subsided Lily glanced at the clock on her wall. It was 4:30 in the afternoon. In the corner of her room, Lily saw her owl, Frederick, looking early toward her, his eyes begging to be released from his cage to deliver the news. As she folded the letter and tucked it inside a fresh envelope, she turned back to the owl with a sad smile upon her face. "I'm sorry Frederick. This is a letter I need to deliver myself."

**A/N: Decided to switch POVs here. This is something you should come to expect in future chapters and even within chapters going forward. I think it's crucial to see inside both James and Lily's heads. You can also expect both omniscient narration and third-party POVs in the future.**


	3. Words of Wisdom

It was the night before James Potter was set to leave for another year at Hogwarts and instead of packing, he was waiting patiently in his father's study. Waiting on Francis Potter was nothing new for James. He had learned from an early age that his father was an important man. Of course, James's father had never missed an opportunity to show James how much he loved him, but as Head of the Department of Magical Accidents and Catastrophes, he was a busy man, even on a Sunday. Having signed one last document, Francis Potter looked up.

"Done for the day," he stated plainly. "It seems St. Mungo's will have their opportunity to research better methods of healing tissue and organ damage resulting from hemorrhagic curses."

"Sounds…excellent, Dad," James replied tepidly.

"I'm sorry son," the elder Potter said, leaving his desk to sit in the armchair across from his son's. "I have kept you waiting here far too long already. I'm surprised a sixteen year-old spirit could stand it. Especially yours," he added, winking.

"I understand – "

"Nonsense, James," his father interrupted. "I want you to accept my apology."

"Fine. I accept it," James replied briskly.

"James…" Mr. Potter began, "what's on your mind?"

"Well…school's about to start and I've got something of a problem," James responded tentatively. "I know I've always sort of cut you out of that, but…this is different. I think it's rather hopeless without your help. Impossible really."

"I see. Finally been expelled have you?" James's father asked, grinning.

"Not yet," James smirked. "I'm afraid you and mum will have to keep buying all the school rubbish in Diagon Alley."

"Blast!" exclaimed Francis Potter, swiping his fist. "Cut to it then."

James Potter looked downward. "It's about a girl."

"Ahh, I'd heard you'd had that covered since your fourth year," Francis chortled. "So who is the girl responsible for finally bedeviling my son?"

"Her name's Lily Evans. She's in Gryffindor –"

"Excellent start," Mr. Potter interrupted.

"Exactly. She's in my year too. I've only just figured it out this summer really. Probably after I've screwed it all up," James muttered darkly. "I'm not really sure how I missed it all this time, but she's beautiful… red hair…amazingly clever…she even manages to outstrip me in Charms and Potions," he ran on, "though I definitely have her number in Defense and Transfiguration. Also, she's very bold…stands up for what she believes in…but still full of kindness…" James trailed off, slightly out of breath.

"You _are_ quite taken with this Miss Evans," Francis Potter laughed. "Now how have you screwed it up?"

"Right…we've not really seen eye-to-eye since day one, ever since Sirius and I got into an argument with this Slytherin that turned out to be her best friend from back home on the first day of our first year. Then of course she's very studious obviously and very rule-oriented, which is not my natural state. And I may have taken a certain pleasure in teasing her over the years. Repeatedly hexing said best friend. Honestly, she completely told me off at the end of last year and…I've got a lot of work on," James finished, again running short of breath.

Francis Potter leaned his neck back in his chair and stared upward in thought. "Son," he started, "It's good you came to me with this. Merlin knows I needed it when I was your age. After all, why do you think it took so long to have you?" he chuckled. Mr. Potter noticed as his son tried to surreptitiously glance at the clock on the corner of his desk. The old man chuckled once more. "James, the short version is this," he said, fixing his eyes on his son's. "For every boy, there comes a time to choose the man you want to be. It always takes some sort of kick in the pants. I was the same. But perhaps this little revelation is yours."

James swallowed. "Say it is. What am I supposed to do?"

"Start showing the world – and Miss Evans – who you really are. Between your Quidditch skills, your grades, and of course your pranks, Hogwarts has seen part of you," the elder Potter said firmly. "That's the surface. Your mother and I, perhaps your friends, we are sometimes lucky enough to see what lies beneath. It takes courage to bare your true self to those around you. Especially to those around whom you feel most vulnerable," he continued. "Sometimes you get stung. That's life, James. But sometimes, usually the times it really counts, it is accepted. If this Lily Evans seizes that chance, she'll forget about the boy who didn't understand himself yet. Women have a gift for that, leaving the boy in the past when the man emerges."

James Potter sat in silence for a moment. In all the times he had spoken to his father, James honestly didn't believe he'd ever been told so much. Leaning his neck back and running his hand through his hair, he sighed.

"Son," Francis Potter said gently, "it is going to be exactly as hard as it seems right now. I can't promise you it take you where you want to go. But I can assure you that it is the only way."

**A/N: First off, thank you to everyone who has been reading! I hope you're enjoying the story and that you'll keep bearing with me. Any time you take to review is also much appreciated. This chapter is an effort to give James another push toward maturity and to take a first crack at a side-effort of this story, family relationships in the Marauders Era.**


	4. Hogwarts Bound

After an excruciating summer, Lily Evans was glad to be headed back to school for her sixth year. As she waited for the Hogwarts Express to depart Kings Cross Station, the striking sixteen year-old Gryffindor was perched comfortably in one of the train's many compartments waiting for her friends and roommates, Marlene McKinnon and Alana Hooper, to find her. In the meantime, she carefully studied her copy of _Advanced Potion-Making_ for Professor Slughorn's N.E.W.T.-level potions class, determined to get ahead of the curve. Thinking back to cutting ties with Severus over the summer, she realized potions had probably not been the best place to start. Slughorn's class was bound to be quite a different experience than years past. Despite Severus's exceptional ability in the subject, she would have to find a new partner. For the first time, Lily would also be without Marlene and Alana, whose careers of choice kept them far away from cauldrons. She could only hope the same was true for Potter and Black. The last thing she needed was to endure more of their juvenile bullying without any of her usual buffers.

Lily's thoughts were interrupted by the arrival of vivacious blonde and a short-haired brunette. Finally, she thought, quickly stashing her textbook to avoid Marlene and Alana's good-natured teasing.

"Lily!" the blonde exclaimed excitedly, pulling her friend into a hug. "It's so good to see you again!"

"You too Marlene," Lily quickly replied. "I've missed you even more than usual this summer. You too, Alana," she added, turning quickly to hug her other friend.

"I'm so sorry you weren't able to join us this summer," Alana replied. "France really was wonderful. It's a shame your parents wouldn't let you go."

"Difficult to write though unfortunately," Marlene added reluctantly. "We had so much to share…it's just…well, you know Gidget and Hammie. I'm not sure they'd have survived the trips."

"Don't worry about it," Lily said, swatting away their concerns with a flip of the hand. "I think they honestly would've let me go, but my sister Petunia threw such a fit about it that I'm not sure they would've been able to endure her if they had given permission."

"Still being a brat then?" asked Alana. "I thought that was supposed to be the youngest…"

Lily slapped her arm playfully. "Shut it! And yes, she was completely insufferable this year. Possibly moving out soon though, thankfully."

There was a brief lull in the conversation as the two new arrivals in the compartment stowed their trunks and other belongings. The silence left time for Lily's mind to linger on her older sister. For the longest time, Lily had thought the bitterness that had grown between them would fade. Still, years later their relationship seemed worse than ever. Fortunately, the whistle announcing their departure interrupted her depressing train of thought and she soon jumped back into conversation with Marlene and Alana. Despite her inner turmoil, Lily made a conscious effort to plaster a smile upon her face.

* * *

Later during the trip, in a compartment near the front of the train, James sat watching while Sirius heckled Remus and Peter during a game of Exploding Snap. James knew his relative silence would not go unnoticed for long, but his thoughts kept returning to his red-headed classmate. What his father had said yesterday was all well and good, but as a master prankster and newly-minted Quidditch Captain, James knew he needed an actual plan. He had the end result – change for the better – but there was so much left unknown. What to change. How much. And most importantly, how to get Lily Evans to actually notice, rather than dismiss him at first sight with a withering glare.

"Oi, Prongs!" Sirius yelled in his ear. "You promised me you'd lay out your plan to claim the Quidditch Cup! We're nearly halfway there and I've barely got a word out of you."

"Right. Sorry," James said quickly.

"Well, have you got it all set in that head of yours yet or are you open to suggestion?"

Over the summer, James's plans for the team had become rather firm, assuming tryouts went well, but he found himself more in a listening mood at the moment. Making a conscious effort to brighten his demeanor, James smiled. "Padfoot, would I deny you the opportunity to wag your tongue about tactics?"

"No! Excellent. Well, I've been thinking a lot about our attacking formations. Part of how we got done in last year was we didn't leave many lines for me to send Bludgers through the middle of the pitch, so–"

James's focus on his best friend's thoughts on their favorite sport was suddenly interrupted by the sight of dark red hair in his periphery. Coming down the corridor toward their compartment was Lily Evans. At the moment, her face was lit up with laughter. She appeared to be sharing a joke with one of the Hufflepuff prefects on the way to the mid-trip prefects' meeting. Tearing his attention away from her face, and the bright smile now firmly fixed there, James took her in. She had cut her hair over the summer so that it now fell only a short way past her shoulders. She was already in uniform, sans tie and robes. Her blouse was buttoned perfectly according to code, but James could easily make out the lines of her upper body in her perfectly-fitted sweater. In the back of his mind, James knew he had only precious little time left before she drew close enough to notice him staring. Quickly, he followed the end of her regulation sweater to her skirt, which flared out nicely from her hips until it stopped exactly at the middle of her knee. She moved gracefully toward them, with the cat-like effortlessness that the comeliest of witches always do.

Suddenly, James's reverie was interrupted by Remus Lupin squeezing between him and Sirius. "Got the meeting now boys. See you in a bit," the young man said, opening the compartment door to leave.

"So James, enjoying the view?" Sirius needled.

"What?" James asked quickly, hoping the object of his attention had not been noted.

"Well, I could tell about mid-way through my brilliant explanation of why we'd do well to ditch the Hawk Formation for the Flying-V that you weren't paying any attention," the boy responded, moving to take Remus's seat beside James. "Who was it then? O'Donnell? Blake?" Sirius stared down the length of the train car.

Looking back outside the window, James was relieved to find that a group of Hufflepuff and Gryffindor girls had congregated to talk. He noted the two voluptuous blondes Sirius had mentioned, Shannon O'Donnell and Whitney Blake, amongst others.

"You're always after the blondes, Padfoot," James chuckled, trying to deflect the question.

"Clever, Prongs," Sirius prodded, "but this isn't about me. Which of them has caught your fancy?"

James realized his mistake in dismissing the names offered and hurriedly looked for a viable candidate. Just as the silence was about to become awkward, he was spared by the emergence of Katie Wallenby, a fellow Gryffindor with chestnut brown hair and a lithe figure. He quickly pointed, playing off the delay with a smirk.

"Wallenby," Sirius said appreciatively. "And our year too. That's a mark for you alright, Prongs. You going to really give chase?"

"Well, I _am_ a Chaser after all, aren't I?" James retorted. "I think I've got time for chasing skirts as well as Quaffles this year."

"Too true," Sirius replied. "It's a good thing you're not after O'Donnell. We may have had to duel."

James laughed, hoping Sirius hadn't noticed that Lily Evans had been anywhere in the vicinity. If it all worked out, he was prepared for to take the ribbing. If not…well, knowing his friends they'd never let him hear the end of it.

"Well, O'Donnell's all yours mate. I've got other things on my agenda." James said loftily.

"Do you now, James?" Remus inquired, re-entering the compartment.

"Wallenby…" Sirius answered, gesturing toward the brown-haired beauty with his head.

"Well, well, James. Aiming high indeed," the sandy-haired young man commented, taking Sirius's old seat next to Peter Pettigrew. "I suppose that makes it time for our annual resolutions, doesn't it?"

At this, Peter perked up. "I've got my resolution ready this year!" he almost shouted. James immediately thought back to last year's train ride, when Peter had tried to dodge their annual tradition and been teased mercilessly for his lack of preparation.

"Eager Peter," joked Sirius. "Out with it then."

"I'm going to pull a prank all by myself this year," the shy, squat boy boasted.

"Oh ho!" Sirius howled. "Tell me when. I want a ticket for this show!"

"You don't think I can?" Peter accused.

"Come on Wormtail, don't take it so hard. It's just you've never done it is all. It takes a certain flair that only comes with trial, error, and loads of detention," James remarked.

"I'm sure it will come off," Remus said diplomatically. "As for me, I'll be aiming to be a bit more sociable. Perhaps actually get a date or two for Hogsmeade."

"Aww, how practical of you Moony," Sirius teased. "Mine's simple. Quidditch Cup or bust. What about you, James? Aside from Wallenby of course…"

Now, James found himself unprepared. Sirius's goals tended to be far loftier and drawn out. This year he had hoped that would give him some time to think of a cover, as he had no intention of announcing his real goal to his friends.

"I've got several, actually," James responded. "Though Sirius has stolen one," he muttered, feigning annoyance.

"Come on then," Sirius prodded once more. "Don't tell me you've gone and pulled a Peter on us…"

"Hey!" Peter yelped defensively.

"Pssh!" James scoffed. "Let's just say, I'm aiming to make a big impression this year. Be the best I can be, in every respect."

"Too vague, Prongs," Sirius scolded disapprovingly.

"Too vague? Well then. By the end of the year, I'll have knocked Evans off her perch at the top of our year," James responded sternly. The three others in the compartment laughed heartily.

"Quidditch, pranks, girls, our moonlit weekends…I don't think you have nearly the time needed to pull of that feat, James. That's ignoring of course that she'd actually have to falter." Remus said as he shook his head in disbelief.

"Well, you've always been bold, Prongs," Sirius chuckled. "But I think you've signed up for certain disappointment there. The only tougher task would be getting her to accept one of your requests for a date!"

Sirius, Remus, and Peter all laughed hysterically. As the train rolled to a stop, they were too busy appreciating Sirius's latest joke to notice the frown that suddenly darkened James Potter's expression.

**A/N: You'll note I've invented some characters here. Unfortunately canon is pretty scant on who was at Hogwarts with James and Lily, let alone who was in their year. I think Marlene McKinnon is probably the closest bet (aside from the Marauders and Snape), but going forward I am just going to invent anyone else who is supposed to be in their year or at Hogwarts at the same time. Some of these invented folks will serve a purpose for the story, some will just be extras with a name.**


	5. Another Run-In

When James and Sirius had learned their schedules for the year, neither was pleased to discover that N.E.W.T.-level Potions would be the first class of the day.

"Bloody Potions!" grumbled Sirius Black as he squeezed through the door to Professor Horace Slughorn's classroom. "All the carefulness and specific little instructions are bad enough without having to listen to him drone on straight after breakfast."

"Getting shown up by Evans and Snivellus isn't exactly how I'd choose to start my day either mate," James commiserated. "At least it's done quickly though so we don't have to dread it all day like last year."

"Those two. Don't remind me. What she sees in that slimy git I'll never know," Sirius said before pretending to gag.

As the last pair to file in, James and Sirius took their usual seats in the back of the classroom. James took the opportunity to glance around the room. Snape was hard to miss, sitting right up front like the teacher's pet he was. However, James was pleasantly surprised that he was _not_ accompanied by Lily Evans. Instead, his partner appeared to be an equally greasy Slytherin, Jayne Mulciber. Smirking at his rival's apparent abandonment, James quickly sought out the object of his affections. Lily Evans was seated in the middle of the classroom, alongside a fellow Gryffindor, Lionel Baird. It was a shock to James that Baird had even qualified to take the course. In classes, he'd seemed awful at the subject, though he must have eked by come exam time.

"Looks like ol' Snivelly's lost his guardian with that little outburst at the end of the year," Sirius whispered.

However, James was still concentrating on the red-haired girl several rows up, who was smiling and talking animatedly with their classmate. Though he knew he owed it to Sirius to keep their successful partnership running into its sixth year, he felt a rising irritation seeing someone so obviously using Evans for her talents. Not that he was the first. James glared daggers into his male housemate's back. That Baird was taking advantage of her kindness as well only doubled the offense. He was about to comment on the situation to Sirius when he was interrupted by Professor Slughorn's sudden arrival.

"Hello. Hello everyone. So sorry to keep you waiting," the rotund old man called out, a broad, but tight-lipped smile covering his face. "Of course this year you will all be facing the challenge of N.E.W.T.-level potion-making. I must warn you, I will be holding you to a much higher standard than you've been accustomed to in years past, so there will be little time for dawdling about or unrelated side conversations…" he trailed off, fixing his eyes on James and Sirius.

"Wanker," Sirius muttered.

"In any event, I trust all of you are in the right place and have thought very carefully about who you want to partner with this year. These are not your basic potions anymore," Slughorn droned on. "Any questions?" Seeing no hands, the professor continued, "Good, good. Everyone ready to go then. Please open your books to page ten. We will begin by discussing a very intriguing concoction devised some centuries ago, the Draught of Living Death…"

The remainder of the period passed without incident for James. He and Sirius were easily able to covertly pass notes about new prospects for the Quidditch team, while Slughorn gave a boring history of the potions they would be brewing next week. After being dismissed for the day, they packed their things, preparing for the long walk to Defense Against the Dark Arts. As they left the almost deserted classroom, the two were locked in a fierce debate over the merits of tactical fouls, when Sirius suddenly sped up to slip through the door first, winking. Suddenly James felt himself collide with another person. Sirius sprinted down the hallway laughing.

"Bloody hell, Potter!" a female voice screeched.

James immediately looked down to see a very agitated Lily Evans buried in books, ink splattered on her cheek. Though she was clearly fuming, James thought she had rarely looked better. The redhead's next words brought James back into the moment.

"You did that on purpose didn't you?! You and Black!" she yelled.

"I…what? Of course not!" James stuttered.

The young woman's eyes narrowed. "Right," she spat, beginning to gather her belongings.

"Honest, Evans. It was a mistake," James said defensively. "Here. I'll help you up," he added, extending his hand.

"Pssh," she scoffed. "What's in it?"

"In what?"

"Your hand, you prat. There must be something in it. One of your little contraptions."

James opened both palms and raised them in surrender. "Nothing," he promised. "Just a little help." He extended his hand again.

Lily Evans regarded James Potter with suspicion. Was this really _Potter_ – doing the right thing when he had made a mistake? She quickly studied his face for any sign of impending treachery. Mischief appeared conspicuously absent from his eyes, and she could not find even the beginnings of his irritating trademark smirk. For better or worse, she decided to accept the hand before her. Suddenly she found herself upright again, surprised at the strength of Potter's tug. She watched for a moment as he stooped low to pick up some of the more voluminous texts she had been carrying. "I can get them myself you know," she said quickly.

"I know," her classmate replied tentatively as he handed Lily her books back. "But I figure it's the least I can do, knocking you over. Seems you got the worst of it after all."

"Well…okay then. We'd better get going. It's a long way to Defense from here," Lily remarked, dusting herself off as she made to leave.

"Err…Evans," Potter began cautiously.

"What is it?" Lily asked tersely. "We're already going to be late."

"It's…well it's your face. You've got a bit of ink there on your right cheek."

Lily found herself surprised by Potter's honesty. It would've been all too easy for him to let her walk through the school and into a crowded classroom looking like an idiot. Strangely he hadn't done it. "Well…thanks," she offered. "Where is it exactly?"

Potter reached upward and pointed to the area just below her cheekbone.

"Right," Lily responded, pointing her wand where he had indicated. "_Tergeo_," she muttered, turning to face her classmate once more. "Better?" she asked.

"Perfect," James replied.

With that, the two Gryffindors began their trip to Defense Against the Dark Arts together, both walking briskly to ensure both a timely arrival and a shorter duration for the uncomfortable silence that almost immediately fell between them.

**A/N: First interaction between James and Lily in sixth year. I apologize that it has been a long time in coming, but I thought realistically it was important to deal with some of the inner turmoil regarding James realizing that he actually likes Lily and the dissolution of Lily's friendship with Snape first.**


	6. O Captain, My Captain!

As September eased into October, James Potter was disappointed to report no change in his frosty relations with Lily Evans. Despite what he considered repeated shows of good faith – not hexing Snivellus in the bathrooms, not hexing Snivellus in the halls, not setting off dungbombs in the corridors near first years' classrooms – there were no signs of improvement. James had hoped the aftermath of Sirius's little joke on the first day of classes would lead to at least a temporary thaw, but after weeks of patience and relatively good behavior it still seemed that Lily Evans despised him.

Fortunately, his new role as Captain of the Gryffindor Quidditch team was finally going to afford him the opportunity to focus his attention elsewhere. The morning of October 4th was crisp and cool, with a thin fog hanging over the pitch as James and the rest of the current team stepped out to join this year's batch of hopefuls.

"Oi! You lot!" James bellowed as he and Sirius Black dropped the container holding the various required balls onto the center of the pitch. "Now listen here. Since we've got some first years in this bunch, we'll start with introductions. Name's James Potter. Captain and Chaser. This grimy git next to me," he said, gesturing toward Sirius and his long locks of still-wet hair, is Sirius Black. He's a Beater."

Next, a slender witch with long brown hair tied-back in a ponytail stepped forward, the sun briefly illuminating a face full of freckles. "I'm Maggie Brinkley, Chaser."

Maggie's introduction was swiftly followed by a pair of Gryffindor fifth years, Colin Davies and Stan O'Shea, who played Seeker and Keeper respectively.

James once more stepped to the fore. "As you can see, we've got two starting spots open. One Chaser, one Beater. I'll say it right now, our aim's to win the Quidditch Cup this year. That sort of pressure scares you, then go on and sod off now. I don't need to waste my time seeing any Quaffle-fumblers or loose-gripped Beaters today. Clear?" The outburst immediately led all but two first years to flee the pitch.

"Bad form!" yelled Sirius after them. "Where's your Gryffindor courage?"

The rest of the group greeted the two friends' remarks with nervous laughter.

After delivering instructions on how tryouts would proceed, James took a moment to see how many of his housemates had come down to show their support. It was normally only die-hard fans and significant others who turned up for tryouts, but James nevertheless took an interest. From his perch across from the Gryffindor stands, he could make out seven figures. After barking demands for improvement from a fourth-year Chaser candidate who had been struck square in the chest with a Bludger, he switched positions to take a closer look.

Sitting in the front row was, of course, Arnold Baker, the Gryffindor from the year behind them who now called some of the matches. A few rows behind him were Maggie's dutiful boyfriend Anders and O'Shea's flavor of the week. The surprises were to be found in the back row in the form of Lily Evans's best friends, Marlene McKinnon and Alana Hooper. Before he could spend much time wondering why the pair had turned up, he saw Sirius flying over and sounded his whistle to signal a water break.

"These first two groups have been positively dire, Prongs," Sirius groused. "I certainly wouldn't want any of them flying with me."

"So I've noticed, Padfoot," James laughed. "Did you really have to hit McKenzie in the _chest_ with the Bludger?"

"Bloody right I did! Kid doesn't even understand the basic concept of a formation. He almost took Maggie off her broom when he was supposed to be ten feet behind and to the right of her!"

James shook his head. "They have been a disappointment. It's starting to make me nervous. We've only got six Chasers left to try and four Beaters and two of them are first years."

"What are you doing over here anyway?" Sirius asked. "You might at least pretend to pay attention to them for longer than a few runs, even if they are terrible. You are supposed to be our fearless leader…"

"I've paid plenty of attention," James defended. "Just trying to size up our spectators at the moment."

"Usual suspects as far as I can – bloody hell – is that McKinnon and Hooper?"

"That it is."

"What are they doing here?" Sirius asked.

"I was just wondering the same thing myself…unfortunately I've been a bit distracted…" James replied, directing a pointed look at his best friend.

Sirius however, remained oblivious to the fact that he was interrupting. "Ahh. Distracted? I see why…" he chuckled, elbowing James in the ribs. "Number seven over there in the corner. Wallenby! Eyeing her up while pretending to watch tryouts. Prongs, you fox."

Truth be told, the presence of their admittedly attractive classmate had escaped his attention, but given their exchange on the Hogwarts Express, James couldn't dismiss it now. "Ahh, you've caught me then," he fibbed.

Sirius clapped James on the back. "She's here. Good sign. But there's plenty of time to chase birds after we settle on the two that will help us win the Cup, Prongs. Get your head in the game!"

Blowing the whistle again, James started to watch the third group begin drills, but early on, there didn't appear to be much worth his attention. Accordingly, James cast his attention back to the stands, now unable to avoid noticing the petite frame of his brown-haired housemate, clad in a well-fitted coat and a flattering pair of jeans. Now that the light fog had burned off, James noticed the sun shining brightly on Katie's lightly-freckled cheeks and glittering smile. Despite it only being tryouts, she was quite animated, clapping her hands and cheering loudly along with the action.

Suddenly, a participant in the third group managed to capture his attention. A third year trying out for Chaser, Craig Chamberlain, had executed an exceptional dive before braking hard, feinting right and beating O'Shea through his left hoop. Not bad. The lad would need a lot of work to get on he and Maggie's level, but there was finally someone who had potential. As he continued watching, James was pleased to see that Craig seemed to find more and more consistency, becoming a regular scoring threat and even managing to set up a goal scored by one of the first years who was completely out of his depth. Having seen enough, he called a halt to the third group's proceedings.

This gave James time to continue admiring Katie Wallenby, who was now sitting, looking rather disappointed at the lull in the action. James realized it was rather odd that he didn't know her better. The two Gryffindors both lived in the small town of Stroud where there was no sizeable magical community to speak of. James had heard his father speak about the Wallenbys before at the dinner table, usually mentioning that they ought to be invited over for dinner or a Ministry function. His father had always seemed to have a positive opinion of the family, but strangely his announcements never resulted in an actual visit to the Potter estate. Seeing how nicely Katie had developed, James now considered this something of a disappointment.

As those more directly involved in the tryouts stretched and grabbed last-minute drinks of water, James refocused his attention, this time on Marlene and Alana. They didn't seem to be enjoying themselves, or honestly paying attention. Perhaps they were just there for the fresh air. James could hardly blame them. Before this opportunity, he had been going mad trying to contain his natural energy. Unfortunately, he knew the break was going on too long, so he whistled for the final group to begin. This time the person of interest was thankfully a Beater. It was a fifth year, Rafe Spurling. His Bludgers appeared to pack quite a punch, judging solely by their velocity, and his aim was not bad, though it did still need work. James called a stop to proceedings fairly quickly after Spurling had improved his aim. Circling down to join his team and the students trying out once more, he quickly dismissed them, telling them he would make his decision by the end of the week.

Sirius was the only one to hang behind amongst the group. "So, going to talk to Wallenby?" he prodded. "I saw you up there again. If only she were blonde…"

James laughed again. "You and the bloody blondes! There are other features you know?"

"Ahh, but none so captivating," Sirius retorted. "Well, maybe one, but that isn't nearly as easy to judge as it should be – bloody tricksters. Anyway, are you going to talk to her? I bet you could still catch her. Hogsmeade is only a month away…"

"Not today, mate," James said matter-of-factly.

"What do you mean, not today? You think Wallenby's just going to be there at the last minute do you? She's a catch, Prongs! Where are your horns?" Sirius replied, incredulous at James's seemingly cavalier attitude toward the pursuit.

James immediately put on an air of confidence. "Who said I was going to take her the first weekend? That's where you've got in wrong, Padfoot. Sometimes there's a real value in making them wait."

"I suppose…if you really want to wait yourself."

"Well, I know you won't, but you should try it sometime. It really can make all the difference for your Hogsmeade experience. Not to mention after…" James continued, winking at a befuddled Sirius. "C'mon," he said, slapping his friend on the back. "Let's head back. We've got pranks to plan – I'm thinking we could try a new approach this time."

At the mention of pranks, Sirius was quickly mollified and hurriedly followed James Potter up the trail from the Quidditch Pitch to the castle above them.

**A/N: Once again, thank you to all who have read this far and especially to those of you who still want to continue! This chapter is really about setting up some key tensions that will be addressed in different ways throughout the remainder of sixth year, so if you were starting to wonder what might come up and where the story is headed in the near to medium term there are plenty of clues here.**


	7. Differing Opinions

What are you _talking_ about, Prongs!" Sirius cried out in exasperation.

"I figure we could just mix things up a bit," James offered. "Maybe give back a little to the population that has so graciously showered us with its affections for the past five years."

"But the whole _reason_ they've done it is because we've been _hilarious_!" Sirius said in rebuke. "There's nothing hilarious about sending flying notes to every student in school or replacing dungbombs with a contraption that cleans the halls" he sulked.

"Well, there would be a lot of bubbles involved in the first idea," Remus mused. The young man closed the book he had been studying and sat upright in his chair. "In fact, I think James's ideas have potential. Most importantly for you, Padfoot, they have the potential not to get us banned from the first trip to Hogsmeade."

"Hogsmeade! Pssh!" Sirius scoffed. "We can already go there whenever we want."

"True, but I'm afraid the same can't be said for our dates," Remus deadpanned.

"You've got a date, have you Moony?"

"As the matter of fact, I do. I'm planning on escorting Britt Lawson."

"There's your problem right there. You and James. Thinking about escorting when you should be thinking about cavorting with your mates!"

"Hey!" James defended, "Who said anything about me _escorting_ anyone? And as an aside, Moony, maybe don't let Britt hear you talking about a date that way. Terribly unappealing."

"I'm still with James on this one," Remus shrugged and returned to reading.

"Come on then Peter," Sirius urged. "I know you never have to vote, but I need you on this one! Then we can settle this with a nice game of Exploding Snap – which we all know Prongs will lose."

"Well…I…I mean both your ideas sound good," Peter mumbled.

"But just imagine it! Imagine the look on those Slytherins' faces when they're all made to smell like a bed of roses! It will last for days!" Sirius said with a glint in his eye. "It will be brilliant. What's brilliant about bubbles and happiness?" he grumbled, shooting daggers at James.

"What's brilliant about having to endure that stench until they figure out how to undo it?" James retorted. "We share almost all our classes with Slytherins! It's practically like pranking ourselves!"

Remus rolled his eyes. "Shut it. Just let Peter vote and then _hopefully_ it will be decided."

Both the other boys turned their eyes to the nervous, overweight boy who was the last piece of their group. "Like I said…they all sound good, it's just…I don't really want to smell all that for days, Sirius," Peter responded.

"Yes!" James exclaimed, pumping his fists in exultation.

"Oh sod off Peter!" Sirius yelled. "You're letting James sully our reputations all in the name of change. And to avoid the smell? There's spells for that! You've got the skills! You're not some half-wit who–"

"It's done, Padfoot!" James interrupted. "Three to one and that's it. So we do the notes after the Quidditch match, send them out Tuesday and Wednesday and do the hallways on Friday. And pass the notes by me first," he continued, glaring at his long-haired friend who was sulking by the window, "I want to make sure we're _all_ on the same page."

"Any other demands?" Sirius bristled.

"Just one. I call dibs on Evans and Wallenby."

"Fine. Then I get Blake and O'Donnell," Sirius replied. "You know Prongs, this might not be a bad idea after all. You might have just set up the first phase of my fantasy ménage-a-trois…" he trailed off, seeming to drift off into a daydream.

"Ugh!" Peter called out.

"Seconded, Pete," James said in disgust. "Keep that sort of thing locked firmly inside your twisted head!"

As the planning session broke up, James headed downstairs to the common room. He was simultaneously buoyed and disappointed by the victory. While he felt it was exactly the type of thing he needed to sate his inclination toward mischief while not upsetting Evans, the discussion had not been as straightforward as he had hoped. He and Sirius had never been at loggerheads about pranks before on the fundamental level. Generally, the debate between them was always focused on how to carry it out, each of them always pushing the other to make the scheme grander. James knew he would be unable to count on Peter next time as well. His friend was bright enough, talented with a wand, but unfortunately lacking much of a spine – at least that anyone had seen so far. Frankly, he seemed more like a Hufflepuff, determined to keep the peace between he, Remus, and Sirius. This was where the Marauders' vast reputation would hurt him. James's first instinct had been to do the same _type_ of thing they'd always done, but in a different fashion. Do it in a way that would give them plausible deniability. However, after more thought, he had quickly scuppered that approach. While they would avoid detention, given their record, anyone in the school would attribute the incident to them, including and especially Lily Evans. "Merlin!" he growled in frustration.

"Problem, James?" Remus inquired, an amused smile crossing his features.

"Hangnail," James replied quickly, feigning pain in one of his fingers.

His sandy-haired comrade laughed and shot James a skeptical look. "Is that the next thing you're planning on selling Sirius?"

"Funny, Moony," James muttered.

"What's really eating at you?"

"It's nothing. Just these upcoming meetings with the lot who tried out for the team," James tried.

Remus shook his head. "Well, it's not that either. I think you'd better get looked at. You seem to have lost your ability to effortlessly lie."

"Just forget it," James barked. "It's nothing you need to worry about."

"Whatever you say, mate. Though you should know, I'm not the only one who's noticed you acting differently this year. I don't know yet why you're hiding the reason from us, but people are looking. It might not hurt to have your friends with you if it really is important," Remus said pointedly. He cast a meaningful look at James before leaving through the portrait hole.

James glanced at the now empty space ruefully before sitting down on the couch in front of the fireplace. This was turning out to be much harder than he had expected.

**A/N: The Marauders are obviously going to be an important part of the story and they have, aside from Sirius been absent for a while (at least in terms of chapters). This chapter is designed to explore each of them a little further and also serve as build-up for future material.**


	8. Just a Game

"I don't understand why the two of you have to be such nags!" Lily protested. "It's just a game!"

"Oh, Lily…" started Alana.

"It's not _just_ a game. It's the first game of the season!" Marlene finished brightly.

"I just don't understand why everyone puts such stock in it. It's hardly a sport. Just a lot of flying about on brooms," Lily huffed.

Alana giggled. "Says the girl who'd have needed remedial lessons if First Year Flying had been graded."

"Is that why we always have to drag you?" Marlene teased. "Jealous of the flying experts?"

"Fine! I'll go!" Lily shouted, clearly out of patience with her two friends.

"Excellent!" Marlene interrupted. "Come on then, get your scarf. You can at least show a little team spirit."

On the way to the match, Marlene and Alana kept chattering back and forth about Gryffindor's chances at winning the Quidditch Cup, their hopes of getting a good seat, and who the most attractive male players were. Lily thought she was going to be sick when she heard Alana drop James Potter's name. The idea that Potter could attract anyone, let alone the dozen or so girls he had reportedly dated while at Hogwarts still astonished her. Sure, he was okay to look at – objectively, more than okay – but how anyone could cope with his constant misbehavior, arrogance, and condescension was beyond her. As they neared the stands, Lily realized she was being rude. She had hardly said a word since they had left the castle.

"So who's on the team this year anyway?" she asked.

"Oh, Lily, hi. You are still with us," Alana teased.

"Sorry I've been a bit quiet. You know me–"

"Yes, yes, always thinking," Lily's two friends interrupted.

"Anyway," began Marlene, "The Seeker is Colin Davies and the Keeper is Stan O'Shea, same as last year."

"And the Beaters are Sirius Black and a fifth year, Rafe Spurling," Alana added. "Then there's the Chasers. A third year actually ended up making the team! His name's Craig Chamberlain. And there's Maggie Brinkley. And of course our fearless leader, and your best, best friend, James Potter."

Lily had heard plenty over the years about Potter's Quidditch talents, often straight from the so-called source. "So is Potter really as good as he claims to be?" she asked tentatively.

"Well I suppose that depends on how good he claims to be," Marlene replied, taking the rare opportunity to jump on her well-spoken friend's imprecise question.

"Ugh! Marlene!" Lily grumbled. "Does he really play that well?"

"Well, I know you never like it when he makes good on his boasts, but I think you'll find he is as-advertised," Marlene answered solemnly.

"Last year he almost single-handedly won us the final game. Fifteen goals! And five assists! It really was a shame Davies didn't catch the Snitch. We'd have won the Cup," Alana commented.

As the trio entered the staircase leading to the Gryffindor stands conversation became all but impossible. It really is unbelievable how raucous my housemates can get, Lily thought. Eventually, the three friends made their way up to the viewing platform, finally emerging once more into the crisp morning light.

"Hmm, where to sit?" Marlene wondered aloud as she stared down at the smattering of her fellow students standing in front of them.

"First few rows look fairly well-packed," Alana said sadly. "If we hadn't had to waste such time on Lily here, we might've got right up front."

"No one forced either of you," Lily replied coolly.

Suddenly Marlene spotted part of a freckled face with the Gryffindor lion on one cheek and a hand waving directly toward them from out of the front row. "Oh! We've got places after all!" she shouted.

The three girls slowly worked their way up to where the hand was still sticking through the crowd. "Clear a path, please," said a female voice that Lily didn't immediately recognize. The wall of Gryffindor boys in front of them still appeared unflinching. "I said, clear a path!" the voice now shouted. "I'm trying to bring in some _girls_ to spice up your viewing today you ungrateful lot!" Immediately, the wall shifted as the boys turned sideways to see which of their housemates would be joining them.

Once they had made their way down, Marlene embraced the female Gryffindor who had saved their seats. "Katie! You still saved our places! How did you manage it?"

"They're no trouble really. You've just got to know how to talk to them," she smiled. Katie, who was clad from head to toe in Gryffindor colors and also sporting a #5 painted on her other cheek, likewise hugged Alana before noticing Lily's presence. "It's going to be a bit of a squeeze today," she added, eyeing the empty space to her right.

"If it's a problem I can just go," Lily started, "Quidditch isn't really–"

"Don't worry about it," Katie interrupted, "we can always cram in one more. Oi! Brandon! Move on down there!" she barked at a boy a few paces away.

"Come on, Katie," he groaned, "we're packed in like sardines as it is!"

"You come on," she retorted brusquely. "You're making room for a lady. You've got plenty of space." The freckled girl turned to Lily with a mischievous grin. "The boys in the front," she said, shaking her head, "great cheering, _terrible_ whinging." She then stuck out her hand. "You know, we're in the same year, and I don't think we've ever officially met."

Lily politely accepted the outstretched hand. "Well…I'm Lily Evans, perennial Quidditch hostage to these two," she offered as she gestured to her two friends.

"Katie Wallenby," came the reply, coupled by a surprisingly firm shake. "You'd best get down there by Marlene," she said, tilting her head toward the other end of the bench, "the boys might forget about you if you don't move fast enough."

* * *

As Lily took her place in the stands, Gryffindor's #5 was leading his team onto the pitch to take their positions. The scarlet and gold of his robes gleamed in the sunlight as he took his position in the center circle near Madame Hooch. The resident flying instructor and sometime referee turned to the Chaser and his opposite number in turn. "Potter. McCloskey. I want a clean game today," she warned. Taking both their nods as an acceptance, she blew the whistle and the match was underway.

James easily won the Quaffle and streaked toward goal, with the other two Chasers, Maggie Brinkley and Craig Chamberlain taking wide positions just behind him. Deftly avoiding the two Bludgers sent in his direction by the opposing Beaters with a quick dive and twist to his left, he passed to Maggie before surging forward to await her return. As expected, the Quaffle immediately came back to him as he closed on goal, and with barely a minute gone, he opened the scoring with a strong throw that flew directly through the Ravenclaw Keeper's right hoop. The Gryffindors in the stands roared in appreciation.

"And there's James Potter with Gryffindor's first goal of the season. He's wasted no time and Gryffindor lead 10-0," shouted Arnold Baker, the match commentator, as the bell signifying the goal rang out.

Ravenclaw quickly regrouped and with much less effort than the Gryffindors on the pitch or in the stands might have liked, evened the score at 10 apiece, through their captain and Chaser, Evan McCloskey. As the game wore on, it became abundantly clear to all in attendance that the match would be a close one. With both teams fielding inexperienced Beaters, the Bludgers flew about the pitch erratically, occasionally endangering players from the very team that had last struck them. Without much obstacle, quick attacking was the order of the day and the goals flowed freely.

"It's another quick break from Gryffindor – too much of that allowed by both sides today," noted the commentator, "and as we near the hour mark it's Potter to Chamberlain, back to Potter, right to Brinkley who goes over the top to Chamberlain with the Quaffle. Chamberlain ducks outside to avoid a Bludger, throws backward to Potter who feints right, finds Brinkley with a soft pass and it's another goal for Gryffindor, this time through the center hoop. 140-110 in favor of the scarlet and gold."

For the first half-hour or so, Lily had been contentedly taking in the match alongside her friends and housemates, but as it drew on, she found herself becoming frustrated. There was nothing new. Potter led all the attacks and ended up with a goal or assist. Ravenclaw would immediately find a way to score themselves, but for the rare occasions when Black or Potter would find a way to neutralize their efforts. She turned to Marlene on her left. "Is this going to wrap up anytime soon?" she yelled, trying to be heard above the crowd.

Marlene shrugged. "Well, no sign of the Snitch yet," she remarked, scanning the sky. "These things have gone on for days before, you know…"

Suddenly Lily found herself on the end of a fiery stare from Katie Wallenby. "There's no way you're leaving this match!" she barked fiercely. "Nobody leaves the front row!"

Lily immediately heard muttering from her surrounding housemates, especially those behind her. She flushed with embarrassment.

"Staying put then?" Katie asked.

Without replying, Lily turned her eyes back to the game just in time to see Ravenclaw score another goal.

As the Quaffle was retrieved, James found himself fuming. Spurling had been absolutely pathetic alongside Sirius. The score was now 190-180, Ravenclaw getting back-to-back goals after the idiot had nearly knocked out Maggie with a mishit Bludger. As he streaked forward, his messy black hair blowing in the wind, he yelled in frustration. Chamberlain had coughed the Quaffle up immediately allowing Ravenclaw to tie the game.

"And Ravenclaw have the momentum now," Arnold Baker called out. "190-190 with three goals in a row. This Gryffindor team needs to sort itself out because despite their efforts, I don't think Potter, Black, and Brinkley can win this match on their own."

This time, Maggie initiated Gryffindor's attack, taking the Quaffle forward along a wavering path in an effort to avoid contact with the opposing team as long as possible.

"Brinkley takes the Quaffle up the right side now, where she is shouldered harshly by McCloskey. Just managed to stay inside the pitch there…now she flips it back to Potter who left the center to give her support. Potter loses McCloskey with a sharp dive forward, left and now he's got options with Chamberlain and Brinkley on each wing. Potter going it alone down the center. He dodges a well-hit Bludger from Sanders and closes on the Keeper. He's found Chamberlain out wide and it's a quick shot through the left-hand hoop to restore a slim advantage to Gryffindor…Ooh!"

Baker's commentary was interrupted by his and the crowd's collective gasp as James was smashed in the side by a Bludger from Bryan Marks, Ravenclaw's third-year Beater. James felt searing pain in his flank, barely managing to stay on his broom as he grabbed his ribcage. Shaking his head clear, he coughed, only bringing more pain, and wetness to his lips that had not been there before. Blood.

"The Gryffindor stand is howling at Madame Hooch for some sort of penalty associated with that blow on their defenseless captain, who really looks to be suffering at the moment, but she waves away the protests and Ravenclaw begin their attack in earnest with Potter looking well off the pace," Baker resumed.

James knew that things could take a bad turn for the team with his injury after Ravenclaw scored easily, McCloskey leaving him a few yards behind before scoring. It seemed every movement brought pain, including breathing, and the further he leaned forward to gain speed, the more intense the stabbing sensation became. As O'Shea sent the Quaffle out to Maggie, he willed himself forward toward his top speed, gritting his teeth and hoping desperately for the Snitch to appear.

"Brinkley has the Quaffle again down the right side and with Chamberlain well-covered across field, the injured Potter really looks the only option. And yes, she tosses it sideways to Potter in the center of the pitch. A dangerous moment with Potter looking to receive the pass and a Bludger from the opposite direction…ooh…Potter takes one hard to the chest, McCloskey roughly shoulders that injured area and Ravenclaw surely…" Baker urged.

James now found himself in a world of hurt, with Ravenclaw clearly shifting their defensive strategy to take him out of the game. Somehow despite the Bludger and the body-check, he managed to keep possession long enough to shovel the Quaffle forward to Craig, who worked several intricate one-twos with Maggie before scoring with a shot that banked through the right-hand hoop.

"A display of strength from James Potter of Gryffindor. He holds off a Bludger and a body to maintain possession and Gryffindor end up with a goal!" Baker exclaimed.

It quickly became evident that Ravenclaw were going to work their next move through McCloskey down the middle, a risky move, but one they were clearly daring James to be able to stop.

"McCloskey takes the Quaffle on the restart and it's a rare central attack from Ravenclaw. Potter will be hard-pressed in his condition to reverse in time and with the Bludgers on Ravenclaw's side of the pitch this may be a brilliant maneuver," the commentator went on.

Instead of trying to immediately challenge McCloskey, James decided to peel left and challenge him later on in the play. As he turned around, he fixed his eyes on Sirius, silently sharing his need for back-up on this scheme, which his long-haired friend acknowledged with a subtle nod. As McCloskey crossed midfield, James pressed himself again to top speed, finding himself just a yard behind the Ravenclaw Chaser and well wide in his field of vision. To his delight, he noticed a Bludger coming toward Sirius and adjusted course to get beneath McCloskey's current position and take a direct angle to him. As it came toward him, Sirius thumped the Bludger directly at McCloskey's head, causing the Ravenclaw to dive sharply. James smirked as he rammed his left shoulder into his opponent, jarring the Quaffle loose and allowing him to mop up a steal.

"Amazing understanding there between Potter and Black to prevent Ravenclaw from completing their bold attack!" Baker raved. "Potter has the Quaffle now and sweeps around seamlessly to the right where he and Brinkley are able to cross up Smythe with a series of intricate one-twos. Potter swerves high and left to take on the Keeper and…well, he may have gotten a bit close to take the shot on at this speed…but wait, a sharp brake takes his broom almost vertical and he softly tosses it over the Keeper's head through the center hoop to give Gryffindor a two-goal lead, 220-200. An extraordinary goal from an extraordinary player. This has been a truly gifted performance by the Gryffindor captain today, especially given the injuries he must be dealing with."

As the Ravenclaws cursed, the Gryffindor's cheered, none louder than Katie Wallenby, who Lily could make out to her left whooping and high-fiving her male housemates while yelling, "James _Bloody_ Potter! Brilliant!"

Having forced herself to focus in on the game after Katie's reprimand, Lily had to admit that Potter really did seem to be playing on an entirely different level from the other players in the match. Especially after the injury he had taken. She was surprised to find herself almost _admiring_ the grit with which he kept on fighting for his team despite his own obvious pain.

Her thoughts were interrupted by a most welcome pronouncement from Arnold Baker. "Now this is where the real battle begins! After just over an hour and a half, Gryffindor now leads 240-210, but we have the Snitch in sight! Davies and Carroll are swooping in and out of the stands chasing the elusive golden ball at the moment and Gryffindor will be excited that Davies is by far the closer player to it. The two dive down sharply as Ravenclaw make it 240-220 through Smythe. Davies closing on the Snitch and the surface. He jerks up sharply. Davies, with an outstretched hand. Wait, he's jostled by Carroll. But no, this is the moment! Madame Hooch gives the whistle! Davies raises his fist! Gryffindor wins a thriller 390-220 as Potter headlines with ten goals and six assists and Davies catches the Snitch to end it!"

As was typical, students began filing out of the stands quickly as players began gliding toward the changing rooms. James Potter hung alone in the center of the pitch for a moment, before turning toward his descending team and waving them back into the air. Pointing to the students still in the stands, James urged them all back towards him. "Come on then! They've been brilliant today," he said plainly, gesturing toward the remaining Gryffindor faithful.

As the team approached the stands, Katie Wallenby was the first to notice them. "Hold up!" she yelled out to the exiting students before turning around to face the pitch once more. The bright-eyed, brown-haired Gryffindor smiled widely as James came close to the first row where she now stood. "What's going on then, James?" she asked.

"Nothing much," James replied, returning the smile. "Just thought we'd see you off..."

By this time, the remaining students had all turned around to face the team. As they watched, James quickly retreated to the side, raising his hands toward his teammates in a gesture of introduction. Not entirely realizing what his best friend had in mind, Sirius lifted his hands above his head, and waited. Then, matching James, he began to clap for the fans who had stayed for the entire match. Quickly, the rest of the team took the cue and began clapping themselves.

Katie turned to Alana and Marlene, still smiling. "I've never seen this before!" she said. "What's it for?" she asked, simultaneously happy and confused at the team's display.

Lily was stunned to hear the question echoed by many of the other lingering students. As the misunderstanding neared becoming awkward, she decided to speak up. "They're applauding us," Lily said matter-of-factly.

"Applauding _us_?" Katie asked. "What for?"

"Well…" Lily began, "I don't know where Potter's come up with it, but it's very common at football matches –"

"Football?" a second-year boy interrupted.

"It's a Muggle sport," Lily said, brushing off the interruption. "The players applaud the fans after the game as a way of thanking them for their support."

"Brilliant!" said Katie. "What are we supposed to do then?" she asked.

Lily was amused. "Just clap back, really. Then when they leave, we leave."

With that, the Gryffindor stands erupted into a mixture of clapping and laughter. As the Gryffindor team finally flew away, most of the students in the stands were wondering aloud if this would be a new tradition, but only two continued to watch as the players flew away. One was Katie Wallenby, her soft blue eyes happily fixed on the retreating form of James Potter and her broadest smile yet brightening her painted, freckled face. The other was Lily Evans, staring after the same young man, who was clutching his injured side, wondering where he had come up with that idea and what in the name of Merlin had gotten him to start changing this year.

**A/N:** **This chapter is obviously by far the longest at about a quarter of the total story length so far. Simply put, there was a massive amount I needed to cover here, including doing some form of justice to a Quidditch match. I'm not sure at this point what the average chapter length will work out to be, but it is safe to say that the story will get more complex from here and this length might be closer to the norm than earlier, much shorter chapters.**


	9. Celebration

At dinner that night, the Gryffindor table had been abuzz with news of party being thrown in the common room, hosted by none other than their house's most notorious quartet, the Marauders. The rumor had started when a Paige Daniels, a star-struck third-year had eavesdropped on what was supposed to be a private conversation for the group about the Quidditch Cup, a particularly late night, and firewhiskey. Somehow the young girl had managed, entirely on her own, to assemble their disparate comments into a quiet advertisement for their entire house. As things often did where the Marauders were concerned, rumor quickly evolved into fact so that by the time the news reached a baffled Peter Pettigrew, the boys were firmly on the hook. With it already being six o'clock, they had immediately sprung into action, fixing a start time of nearly three hours later to give them time to make what preparations they could. Sirius would contribute his stash of firewhiskey and assemble a bar of sorts for the older students while Peter and Remus made an illicit run to Hogsmeade for butterbeer and other liquid refreshments. Meanwhile, James would be responsible for convincing their friends in the kitchens to whip up some food and working out makeshift decorations.

"Bloody–" James barked as he tripped over his rolled up Gryffindor banner. His stumble had taken his still-injured side into one of the recently heightened tables and he grimaced in pain.

"Trouble, James?" Katie Wallenby inquired as she came down the staircase from the girls' dormitories.

"A bit," he winced. "Don't know why I took this part…rubbish at it anyway."

The blue-eyed sixth-year looked around at the banner, paper, and other party supplies scattered about the common room in amusement. "You know, it might help if you kept all this in one area," she taunted. "That tends to keep you from tripping over the work you've got left to do."

"Yes, well…" James trailed off before performing a sticking charm to the back of a hastily-painted banner. "I'm afraid it's a bit of a rush job, this."

"Hmm," Katie mused, "I would've expected more meticulous preparation for the kind of bash everyone's been talking about. Especially from the vaunted Marauders…"

James looked up to find a flattering smirk plastered on his housemate's face. "Hmph," he grumbled.

"Don't be a bad sport now," Katie responded in mock warning. "You could always ask for help…I think I know someone who might be willing. Seeing as you're injured and all…"

"_Wingardium Leviosa_," James said, swishing and flicking his wand and carefully directing the banner he had been working on to the space over the portrait hole. Satisfied with its placement, he turned to face Katie fully. "You call this an injury?" he answered, gesturing to his side. "It's not even worth a trip to the hospital wing," he boasted.

"Should I take that as a no then?" Katie inquired. "People will be turning up in a little under an hour and from the looks of this…" she added, waving at the several piles of decorations still to be dealt with, "you need all the help you can get."

Looking over at only the largest pile, James quickly took stock. Confetti and streamers to be charmed to hang in the air. Two more self-made banners. Tables to be raised. He started to bend over before wincing and straightening himself up again. "Bugger," he muttered.

Katie placed her hands on her hips and regarded the messy-haired Quidditch star with a raised eyebrow. "Well?" she offered again.

Asking for help was certainly not the Marauder way. Still, James thought, it was even less appropriate for a Marauder-sponsored event to come off looking poor. "Fine," he relented.

"Pssh," Katie scoffed. "That's a poor show of gratitude. Maybe I ought to–"

"No!" James yelped. "I, uh…I suppose…if I'm honest…I do sort of _need_ your help. Thanks. It'd be brilliant," he uneasily replied.

"You lot really despise needing help, don't you?" she laughed. "Best we not waste any time then. I'll handle the pile you're standing over. You sort out the furniture and that monstrously-large banner of yours."

Katie and James spent almost the full remainder of the time working silently, each fully focused on the task before them. Still, James had moments where he could watch the attractive witch at work. He found himself impressed with her magic on more than one occasion, which only served to complement the nice glimpses he had been able to steal, from her legs as she bent over to the firelight in her lively blue eyes. Finally, with about fifteen minutes left, they bumped into each other in the center of the room, admiring the last touches they had each just put on the party space.

"Sorry," Katie said, casting her eyes downward as a light blush crept across her freckled cheeks.

"Course not," James quickly answered. "It was my fault really. I do love that banner…"

"It looks good," the young woman said simply after a brief silence.

"Thanks to you," James replied. "That magic you did with the streamers at different levels, and turning the confetti into little Quaffles and Snitches – impressive."

"Thanks!" Katie said happily. "I learned it from my mum when she helped decorate my Uncle Shep's third wedding last summer. Just a bit of large-scale simultaneous transfiguration."

"You say just a bit like– "

The continuation of his compliment was interrupted by the sudden arrival of Remus and Peter through the portrait hole. Oblivious to the conversation, Peter yelled out loudly for James to help with the load they were carrying. Looking back to Katie for just a moment, he noticed that she had begun to turn back toward the stairs. As she started up toward the girls' dormitories, she caught James's eye and winked. "Bye, James," she mouthed before her face was replaced by her retreating head of chestnut brown hair.

* * *

Over an hour into the party, nearly the full complement of Gryffindors were still stuffing the common room to the brim. Occasionally older students would slip off upstairs to enjoy some of the harder refreshments Sirius was supplying, but most stood chatting with friends or reliving the highlights of the match with members of their victorious Quidditch team. Lily Evans had spent most of the night segregating herself from the packed areas, talking with her friends and trying to avoid being sucked into conversations with the Quidditch-obsessed. Unfortunately for her, Marlene and Alana did not share a similar objective, and so it was that she found herself briefly alone as they embarked on a quest to congratulate the players.

As she saw them approach the small group of younger students congratulating Gryffindor's rookie Chaser, Craig Chamberlain, she scanned the room for friendly faces. With as many people as there were, it was almost impossible to see, especially with James Potter holding court directly in the center of the room. As a prefect, Lily had looked past the fact that many first and second years were nursing butterbeers. It was a party after all and she was reluctant to be the proverbial wet blanket despite her position. Still, there were rumors of harder substances in use, and it irritated her to no end to see James Potter brazenly taking swigs from a flask.

Potter could truly be infuriating. Regardless of her views on the boy, she knew that he was almost universally loved within Gryffindor and widely admired throughout the school. Somehow, despite his disciplinary record, he even seemed to have strongly positive relationships with most of the professors, including their rule-minded Head of House. One would think as a sixth-year, he would have the decency to set a better example.

Making her way carefully through the crowd, she approached him from behind mid-swig. "What are you _doing_ Potter?!" she hissed.

James bristled at the loud whisper that suddenly flooded his right ear. Nevertheless, he lowered his flask and turned his head to see who had delivered it. Given the substance, he should not have been surprised that it was none other than Lily Evans. With her face still close to his, James was able to make out every contour of her smooth skin and every different hue of green in her striking, clearly angry eyes. Pulling back in preparation of delivering his retort, he could not resist following her jawline down to her neck and the silver chain the graced it. Without her uniform, James was confident that if he followed that chain, he would be able to see more of Lily Evans than he ever had before, but alas, he was not to be so fortunate.

"I asked you a question," Lily said sternly, drawing James's attention immediately back to her face. His opportunity had passed. This time, he noticed, her statement was loud enough to draw the attention of the crowd gathered around him.

"Right…" James began. "I'm not doing much really, just relaxing with dozens of my favorite people, trying to enjoy the afterglow of a hard-fought victory on the Quidditch pitch."

Lily heard amused laughter all around her, which only raised her hackles further. Potter and his snide little comebacks, constantly pretending nothing was wrong. Still, she realized she was running the risk of souring the positive, social side of the occasion with a public fight. It was better to be diplomatic. Private, if that were still possible.

"Can I have a word?" she asked, faking a smile.

"Sure," he answered simply, easing himself up from his relaxed position on the couch to stand next to Lily.

As Potter stood, Lily quickly scanned the room for the best venue for her conversation. There was a secluded corner by one of the fireplaces. At parties it was generally frequented by couples who were after a brief snogging session and thus was left alone. Given Potter's history, Lily didn't think it ideal, but with the place bursting at the seams, she also felt she had little choice. "Follow me," she said coolly.

James elected not to respond. He was not quite sure what had gotten his favorite witch so worked up, but given her poorly-hidden anger, he decided not to get glib with her. It was a much harder urge to suppress once he realized where they were headed, but steeling himself with the knowledge that he needed to be changed man to win over Lily Evans, he silently leaned himself against the wall to await the onslaught.

The moment she had him cornered, Lily unloaded in a series of loud whispers. "You are absolutely unbelievable, Potter! First, you and your friends get all these drinks and food into the common room from Merlin knows where. Then sit blissfully by as first and second years in our own house are drinking. And to top it all off, you've got a little bar running in your room as you drink straight out of a flask in front of everyone!"

"Well, Evans…" he started, "it _is_ a party. Food and drink are fairly important to make sure everyone has a good time and I can personally assure you that all of it was obtained perfectly legally. As far as the bar upstairs, Sirius has a handle on things. You've not seen anyone drunk or belligerent have you?"

Reflecting on the evening, Lily was forced to acknowledge that despite the quantities on offer, no one had appeared to get out of hand. "And our youngest housemates?" she bit back. "Fine example they're getting from their flask-toting bearer of booze, isn't it?"

"Charms work, Evans," he answered with a smile. "It's something Remus worked up. Brilliant really. There's an age line around the butterbeer, and the first and second years can only enter once. Personally I was impressed he could do that bit."

"An age line?" Lily asked.

"Ask Remus if you don't believe me," James replied. "You and he are friends after all."

"Fine. And I intend to," she huffed. "It still doesn't excuse your flask."

James ran his hand through his hair before looking off into the fireplace for a moment. "It really bothers you? The flask thing?"

Lily had been ready for a snarky comeback. This was rather unexpected. "Yes," she said simply. "Yes it does."

"Why?"

"Because for reasons I don't pretend to understand, people in the house look up to you. Especially the younger ones. You may have kept them from finding out about the bar upstairs, but they know what witches and wizards drink out of a flask. It's a bad example. Not that such a thing would trouble you…"

"It would actually," James rebuked her.

"Really?" Lily asked, feeling her temper rising again. "The constant rule-breaking. Hexing other students. The over-the-top showmanship. It all smacks of someone with great concern about setting a good example," she spat.

James looked down. He was surprised how much it stung to learn that none of his efforts seemed to have made the slightest impression on the object of his affection. "Seen a lot of that this year have you?"

Again, Lily found herself surprised by his words. "Aside from tonight? Well…I suppose not," she admitted. Potter was puzzling her now. Normally he proudly owned the reputation that he had worked so hard to cultivate over the years.

"Look…" James said as he looked away toward the fireplace. "If the flask bothers you that much…I'll stop." He held the flask up for her to see, opened it, and poured it onto the floor before vanishing the spill.

At this display, Lily was truly taken aback. "Why…why did you do that? I never said–"

"Because I get your point," James interrupted. "I can be better." James pocketed the flask and went back to where he had been sitting, quickly re-entering the crowd and commanding their attention just as before.

For the first time in a long time, Lily didn't know what to say.

* * *

Roughly two hours later, the party was over. Only four Gryffindors remained in the common room. Having finished taking down the decorations together, James Potter and Katie Wallenby laughed over butterbeers as they took turns transfiguring the confetti using Katie's spell. Their laughter reached a peak when Katie transfigured James's bottle into a miniature elephant which squirted its contents into the stunned boy's face, soaking his raven-colored hair.

A short distance away, Remus waved his wand removing the age line before carting the last crate of butterbeer up toward the boys' dormitories. When he returned, his eyes found Lily Evans looking out a window of Gryffindor Tower, seemingly lost in thought.

"Knut for your thoughts," offered Remus as dropped himself in a chair across from her.

"Oh! Remus, you startled me," Lily said softly as she turned to face her friend. "No thoughts really. It's just been a different night."

"I hope you enjoyed the party…" he began "…though I did hear you and James may have gotten into it again?"

Lily thought it strange to find herself smiling. "I had fun. You and your friends managed to put us prefects into a difficult spot though…"

"And James?"

"He tends to be one of those tough spots," she said, throwing Remus a knowing glance.

Remus chuckled. "That he does," the sandy-haired young man acknowledged.

Lily stared back out the window for a moment. "Do you think he can hear us?"

"Who? James?"

"Yes."

"I doubt it. He and Katie seem to be enjoying themselves rather...loudly," Remus remarked as another peal of laughter rang out from across the room. "Why do you ask?"

"I don't know," Lily said truthfully. "I just…does he seem…different to you this year?"

"He does," Remus nodded. "Though in all the most important ways, I think he's exactly the same."

"What do you mean?" Lily asked, leaning forward.

Remus laughed again. "Come on, Lily, surely you've noticed. Not a single prank so far. Not a single hex – unless of course you count those he's used on me, Sirius, or Peter. But he's still running rampant on the Quidditch pitch, inspiring laughter…being a fierce friend."

"Why _are_ you two friends anyway?" the redhead inquired.

"That's a story that is far too long for tonight, I'm afraid," the sometime-werewolf replied. "Suffice it to say that I came to respect and trust James Potter very early in my time here at Hogwarts."

"I know Remus, but knowing you it's hard for me to understand that," she said, exasperated.

"Lily, I've always considered it a shame that you've not gotten to know James–"

"Oh, I've gotten to know him _plenty_, Remus. Too well, maybe. Especially last year."

"Well…" her weary-looking housemate began, "It doesn't happen to you often, Lily, but I'm afraid you're simply wrong about that." He stared at Lily's face until she met his eyes. "Honestly though, I never thought we'd be discussing this," he continued. "What happened tonight?"

Lily sighed. That was the question she had been asking herself on and off since their exchange in the corner had ended. Lily had always considered herself the girl with all the answers, but something about this seemed more difficult.

"Lily?" Remus prompted.

"I don't know. He just…listened to me. It sounds silly I'm sure–"

"No it doesn't," Remus said, the look of recognition in his eyes lost on his red-haired friend.

After a few minutes of silence, the conversation turned to a more comfortable subject as Katie and James went on talking and laughing in the background.

**A/N: Again, I will begin by saying thank you for reading! While I'm really writing to finally get this lengthy story out of my head, I am always excited to see that there are some eyes out there reading my writing and following along with me as the story grows. Story wise, I think you've now directly met and had a chance to form some ideas about just about everyone who will be critical throughout. For anybody willing to review, I'd also love to hear any feedback you have, especially re: the frequent POV shifts in the second section of this chapter.**


	10. Aftermath

The following Friday afternoon Hogwarts School of Witchcraft & Wizardry was once again abuzz because of the Marauders. On Tuesday and Wednesday the hallways were frequently clogged with small notes desperately seeking the students to which they were directed. All had been cleverly charmed to take the shape of different creatures – some arrived at their target as a galloping centaur, others flew in proudly in the form of a hippogriff, while still more leapt their way about like a more sophisticated chocolate frog. Due to their varying methods of transportation, they vexed professors by crawling under classroom doors to interrupt lessons and, in the case of the frogs, caught some recipients quite off guard when they sprang down a sweater or up a robe.

Still, these minor disruptions were nothing compared to the chaos that ensued when multiple dungbomb-like contraptions filled the hallways outside the Potions and Defense Against the Dark Arts classrooms with a frothing mass of bubbles. It was for this reason that James Potter and Sirius Black, the proud planters of said devices found themselves about to enter the office of their Head of House, Minerva McGonagall once again.

"Potter. Black. Take your seats," the aging Transfiguration professor said curtly as she stopped pacing behind her desk.

Silently, the two boys took their places in the dark wooden chairs in which they had been lectured so many times before.

"Before this latest series of incidents, I had quite foolishly begun to believe that perhaps the two of you were growing up," she stated, fixing them with a steely gaze and one of her trademark expressions of displeasure. "I think you made it, let me see…one month and twenty-nine days this year. Quite cleverly I see you've timed this list of transgressions to come just _after_ Monday's Halloween feast…"

Sirius was the first to speak. "Well, Professor, you see it was really in the school's best interest, waiting until after the feast to clean–"

"Cleaning?! Is that what you call trapping entire classrooms full of students behind walls of bubbles, Mr. Black?" she interrupted.

"Professor, if I may, I think what Sirius was getting at is that Halloween tends to be a messy time…" James spoke up. "All the melting chocolate, the crumb-dropping treats…especially in the dungeons where the Slytherins are concerned…and we thought that after centuries of abuse, perhaps the stones–"

"Quiet, Mr. Potter!" the furious woman barked. "This is to say nothing of the constant interruptions to my lessons on Tuesday and Wednesday. You do realize that I will be forced to give the both of you a significant number of detentions. The interruptions, immense delays, not to mention the use of unsanctioned, improvisational charm work…"

"Speaking of the charms, Professor…what did you think of them?" Sirius asked hesitantly.

"Quiet, Mr. Black!" she yelled again.

"No house points for ingenuity then…" James muttered to Sirius, who struggled to suppress laughter.

"Ahh, yes. Thank you for bringing that to my attention as well, Potter! As I'm sure you are aware, before these incidents, Gryffindor was in the lead for the House Cup by some forty points. In light of recent events however," she glared, "I will be forced to deduct thirty points from Gryffindor for each of you."

"You're giving the lead back to Slytherin!" Sirius protested.

"No, Mr. Black, I'm afraid that responsibility lies with you and Mr. Potter," she frowned. "Potter, you will spend the next two weeks assisting Professor Slughorn in cleaning the cauldrons during your free period. As for you, Mr. Black, I think you'll find that there are quite a large number of cleaning tasks facing him that our caretaker, Mr. Filch, would love your assistance in resolving during the same stretch. You'll begin on Monday."

With their sentence apparently delivered, both boys rose from their seats and made to exit the office.

"Ahem. Black. Potter," McGonagall started. "I will be checking on your progress throughout this period and I can assure you that if it is in any way inadequate," she warned, "or if there are any further toes put out of line…I will be revoking your traveling privileges for the first Hogsmeade weekend."

"I think you'll find the cauldrons sparkling soon," James quickly volunteered, trying his best to appear contrite.

"And I'll make sure Filch spends the next two weeks whistling," Sirius added.

"See that you do," she finished.

As the boys departed and the door to her office closed again, Minerva McGonagall finally allowed the hint of a smile to cross her face briefly. There was no question the ringleaders of the so-called Marauders created trouble, but despite her reputation as a strict enforcer of the rules, their professor could not help appreciating their pluck and innovative spirit. And she thought, as she regarded the notes they had sent her via parchment-cat, their charms work.

* * *

Lily Evans looked up from her Defense Against the Dark Arts textbook at the arrival of her friends, Marlene McKinnon and Alana Hooper. As they shrugged off their cloaks and continued their conversation, she snuck the unfolded bit of parchment that had been lying beside her underneath the large book.

"How's the studying, Lily?" Marlene asked brightly.

"Oh. Fine," the redhead replied. "The bit about in-flourish augmentation of spell strength has been rather tedious, but…" she trailed off, seeing from her friends bemused smile that she really didn't care in the least.

"Coming to dinner with us?" Alana asked. "There's supposed to be duck tonight!"

"I suppose. I was hoping to finish my essay on the many uses of the Protean Charm tonight, but I didn't get much done on so I guess it can wait."

"The Protean Charm?" Alana inquired, looking puzzled. "I thought you said you were writing about the many uses of Triggering Modifications."

"Yeah. You nearly drove us mad talking about how you thought it would be a brilliant topic on Monday," Marlene added. "Besides, we aren't even supposed to learn the Protean Charm until next year. And the essay isn't due for a couple of weeks."

"I know, I know, I just changed my mind," Lily defended. "You know how I am…"

"Of course. It _has_ to be _perfect_," both her friends laughed back.

"Hurry up then," Marlene said as she and Alana headed downstairs. "We'll wait for you in the common room while you get into your robes."

Waiting for them to leave, Lily shut her book and looked at the parchment she had hidden. There, in James Potter's very distinctive writing, was another vexing change in his behavior. An actual compliment. She read the note again.

_I wanted to drop you a note of thanks for pushing me to my absolute limit in Charms. I saw you __practicing__ performing the Protean Charm in the common room the other night. It was bloody impressive. Seems I've still got a lot of work on to catch you this year._

Unlike previous occasions, it was left unburdened by any professions of superiority or crude innuendo. It also made no reference to their disagreement the other night, or their historically fractious relationship. Lily realized that it had been part of one of their pranks, but the prank in itself was even odd. From everything she had heard, it seemed the Marauders' notes were part of some sort of compliment campaign, with every student receiving one…even the Slytherins. As she pulled on her robes, she wondered if there was an ulterior motive. Perhaps delivering the notes was a means to an end? She would have to see if she could wheedle anything out of Remus…

Suddenly she heard footsteps on the stairs. "Lily?" a concerned Alana called out.

"I'm fine," Lily answered quickly. "Just found a stain I had to clean up first."

Pinning her prefect badge to her robes, Lily tucked the parchment back in her bag and headed downstairs to meet her friends for dinner.

* * *

"Aren't you at least going to tell us what it said?" implored Renee Haverford, the dark-haired Gryffindor seated next to Katie Wallenby.

"We shared what ours said!" Marie Thomas exclaimed in support. "It's only fair!"

"Yours were inch-deep and witless," Katie retorted.

"Exactly!" Marie begged. "Yours came from _James Potter_."

"You don't even know that," Katie said dismissively.

"Course I do," Marie huffed matter-of-factly, "I knicked a scrap of his parchment to see if he wrote mine."

"Fine. So mine came from James. What do you care what it said? It's not as if I asked to hear yours," Katie grumbled, turning back to her duck and potatoes.

"Isn't it obvious, Marie?" Renee muttered.

"What?" Marie asked earnestly.

Renee sighed. "I love you to death, but you're not the sharpest…"

"Shut it, Renee," Katie snapped.

"Ouch! Somebody's gotten herself twisted…"

"Shut it!" the attractive Gryffindor repeated, drawing the attention of the few other groups eating nearby. Looking down, Katie lowered her voice to a whisper. "I'll tell you later. I'm not about to get into this at dinner when he's feet away," she hissed.

"He's _tables_ away, Katie," Renee grumbled as she rolled her eyes. "Anyway, suit yourself."

"Who's tables away?" James Potter inquired as he strode toward the three witches.

Katie's eyes went wide at the sound of his voice and she felt the heat rising in her cheeks. With her fair complexion, she was sure she looked a foolish shade of red, despite her freckles.

"Oh, nobody," Marie volunteered. "Just some brutish Slytherin who was giving Katie trouble earlier."

Ignoring the obvious discrepancy in the described distance, given that the Slytherin table was practically a room away from where the girls were seated, James's expression soured. "What kind of trouble?"

"James it was really nothing," Katie interceded. "Some fourth year who was feeling bold. I don't even remember his name."

"Hmm…" James mused, his eyebrows still furrowed.

"James…" Katie said again, gently touching his arm, "…really, it's fine. Anyway, I could handle him myself if need be."

"Git–"

"So James…what brought you over?" Renee interrupted.

The boy's head snapped up. "Oh…err, I was just going to see if Katie might be able to help me settle a bet. Sirius has gone round the bend again with a friendly bet on Quidditch trivia…" he trailed off.

"What's the question?" Katie asked.

James looked down to notice his housemate's hand still touching his forearm, her eyes dancing brightly. He smiled and took her hand, "I'll lead the way. Sirius will want to put it to you just so..." he began and the pair made their way toward where the rest of Marauders were seated to decide the issue.

* * *

Later that night, James found that he and Remus were the only students remaining in the common room. Since seeing Evans perform the Protean Charm the other night he had found himself spending more time with books recently in an effort to keep pace and consequently spending more time with the more studious werewolf. He slammed his book shut in frustration.

Remus looked up in amusement. "Still chasing the perfect topic?"

"Forget it!" James exclaimed. "I'll stick with my original – the many uses of Triggering Modifications. Should be complex enough to keep pace, though it doesn't have the shock value…"

Remus looked at his frazzled friend for a moment before closing his book and allowing a silence to fall between them. Apparently lost in thought, it took a moment for James to notice his friend was giving him a meaningful look.

"Got something to say?" James inquired.

"I do."

"Get on with it then. I'm about to turn in."

"Well…I know unlike Sirius you prefer we _don't_ intrude on this area _too_ often, but I have to ask…" Remus offered, along with a tepid smile.

James smirked. "You need a double for Hogsmeade? Don't want to chance it coupling off with Padfoot and O'Donnell?"

The werewolf's expression immediately turned serious. "No, I'm afraid this is entirely about you, James."

James felt his pulse pick up bit. "Alright, Moony, spit it out."

Remus scanned the room to ensure no one was present to eavesdrop. "Who's the witch you're _really_ after this year?"

"Pssh!" James scoffed. "You've turned all serious over that? I've already said at least–"

"And I didn't believe you then. I'm not sure whether I do now."

"Oh?"

"James, you've lived in the same town as Katie Wallenby your entire life. If she had really been your aim all along it would've been only too easy to get to know her this summer instead of at school."

"The idea came late…" James offered unconvincingly.

"The idea to sell it to Sirius perhaps…" Remus retorted. "But all the changes this year would certainly not be required to win over Katie Wallenby."

"Changes?"

"Don't fool around, James," Remus said warningly.

"I just got sentenced to two weeks cleaning cauldrons! What are you playing at?"

Remus looked down and shook his head. "And that proves it. You've hidden it well, I have to admit. If I didn't have such time on my hands…or a particular mutual friend…I may have started to buy it myself."

James looked away toward the window, remaining silent.

"You fancy Lily Evans," Remus stated simply.

"I–"

"Don't deny it," the werewolf interrupted, throwing his friend a stern glare. "What I don't understand then, is all this that's sprung up with Katie. Seems like a bit more effort than required to throw Sirius off the real scent."

"Look…" James began. "It's complicated. Do I fancy Evans? Absolutely. But she doesn't even see the effort. Not really."

"So it's too slow for you?" Remus bristled. "_I_ know you. Lily doesn't. If you're honest, she's only ever seen your worst for five years. She's a careful witch, James."

"It's not that at all…" James growled defensively. "At first, everything with Katie _was_ to occupy Sirius…but then I started to really notice her. I'm getting to know her and something feels good about it."

"Perhaps that it's coming easy?" Remus volunteered sardonically.

"Sod off!" James shot back. "You _know_ that part of my reputation is absolutely undeserved."

"I do," the sandy-haired young man conceded.

"Look…I'm not stopping what I've started…changing I mean. That started for Evans, but it's bigger than that. When it comes to her and Katie though…I'm working through it. You'll know by Hogsmeade. Whichever way it goes…it's serious," James finished before marching upstairs to go to bed.

**A/N: Again, a lot to cover here. Initially I thought about putting off the confrontation with Lupin, but I decided that we had reached the point in the year and overall story arc I have planned, that it was time to force a decision from James. Still, I think you'll actually see an increase in interactions between James and Lily though I will warn in advance that they will sometimes be frustrating. Keep in mind though that James and Lily's internal thoughts are still an enormous mystery to one another. It will all come around in the end.**


	11. One Day in November

On the morning of the first trip to Hogsmeade, Katie Wallenby was losing her patience.

"Come on, Katie," Marie Thomas pled, "just let me do a little something extra for you."

Renee Haverford grumbled as she gave her best friend another once-over. "You really should listen to me," she warned. "If the girls he's dated before are any indication of what he likes…"

"Enough!" Katie shouted, sending her friends into stunned silence. "I can't take any more! All this week – wear this, do that, you _have_ to have those – you're driving me mad."

"We've only been trying to help," Renee huffed.

"It _is_ James Potter," Marie said quietly.

"I know bloody well who he is," Katie retorted.

Renee placed a hand gently on Katie's shoulder. "We're just trying to give you your best chance. You are going on a date with a boy who's been through his fair share of witches…"

"Stop, Renee," the brown-haired Gryffindor warned.

"Right. I know. It's just, being that the longest any–"

"Yes. I know. Three months," Katie said brusquely. "You've got your own dates to meet. I'll be down in a few minutes," she finished.

Exchanging a concerned look, the other two girls grabbed their cloaks and headed down the stairs.

Katie took a moment to look at herself in the floor-length mirror. She nodded, happy with her appearance. She was dressed simply and warmly. Her hair, her nails, and her face were neat. Despite much prodding from her friends to be more glamorous, she had also stuck with her usual understated use of make-up. She didn't think herself the type of witch to change herself to suit a particular wizard's fancy. Moreover, she considered herself an independent person, maybe a bit different, but happy with her choices and the person she was. If James Potter couldn't respect that, she reasoned as she started downstairs, she would just have to find a wizard who would.

* * *

After Remus and Peter had left the tower to pick up their dates, both Hufflepuffs, James found himself left behind with Sirius Black and his date, a blonde fellow Gryffindor, Shannon O'Donnell. They had planned on leaving the common room in a few minutes in order to heighten their chances of leading the line to Hogsmeade, but thus far, there was no sign of Katie Wallenby. As he waited, James made a conscious effort to keep a positive expression on his face. The inane topics his best friend and his busty companion had already taken to loudly discussing were incredibly irritating. Simply the way it was with Sirius though, James reckoned. The long-locked "Heartthrob of Hogwarts" as Sirius was known to many girls about the castle, tended to place an emphasis of appearance over substance. As Shannon continued to prove this point, James found himself incredibly pleased that Sirius had asked Remus to double with them as opposed to him. Suddenly James was startled out of his thoughts by a light punch in the arm.

"Prongs!" Sirius said in a loud whisper.

Looking up, James saw no need to ask the question that had been on his lips. Coming down the staircase from the girls' dormitories was his own date. James immediately met her soft blue eyes and smiled. He was happy to see that despite the date, Katie looked entirely herself. No glamour charms, no frills, or excessive jewelry. Her shiny brown hair was put up nicely in twin braids that started near her forehead and her freckles seemed to dance along her cheekbones as she returned his smile. Though she was dressed simply, James couldn't help noticing that her clothing still flattered her trim, athletic figure. The dark jeans she had chosen hugged her tightly in all the right places. Her chosen top, long-sleeved in scarlet and gold appeared comfortable, but didn't unduly diminish the outline of her breasts. A thin gold chain was all that hung about her neck and she was carrying a navy peacoat that James hoped fit her as nicely as her jeans.

"Ready then, Katie?" James asked, gesturing toward the portrait hole.

"Ready," she replied, finally exhaling as she allowed James to gently guide her through the exit with a hand on her back.

* * *

On the way to the village, the Marauders and their dates had traveled together, making light conversation about classes, Quidditch, and to both James and Katie's dismay, some of the latest articles in _Witch Weekly_. Mercifully, when they finally reached the village, James had his date all to himself.

"So where are we headed?" Katie started.

"Where would you like to go?" James answered quickly.

Katie's eyes narrowed. "Well, maybe I'm a tad too traditional, but I'd thought you'd already have something planned…you do have somewhat of a reputation for planning things after all…"

"Just trying to put the lady's wishes first," James replied, making a joking flourish with one hand.

Katie laughed at the gesture. "Really though," she chuckled, "where to?"

"I thought we'd start at Honeydukes. I can spoil you a bit before the walk we've got ahead."

"Spoil me? Think you know what sweets I like already do you?"

"If I remember correctly from the feasts and the trolley, you're rather partial to your crystallized pineapple and Pumpkin Pasties…"

Katie was pleasantly surprised that James already knew this about her, especially given their rather limited interactions on the Express or in the Great Hall before this year. At worst, he'd done the legwork to find it out. At best, he'd actually had his eye on her.

"Been watching me have you?" she joked.

"Maybe…or perhaps I'm good at guessing," James teased.

"You and that sharp tongue," Katie replied, shaking her head. "For that you can get me some chocolate as well. Every witch enjoys that now and again."

Having quickly navigated their way through the masses in the candy shop, the pair stepped back out into the street after a short time, laden with two small sacks of sweets. Katie immediately reached in for one of her precious pasties. James watched as she took a bite, noticing how her lips closed nicely as she took a moment to savor the flavor. Perhaps if he was lucky–

"Have I got some on my face?" Katie interrupted.

"What? Err…no. I was just watching you enjoy your first bite," James deflected. "I'm not sure I've seen anyone take such joy from a simple pastie before…"

"Berk," she retorted, playfully elbowing him in the side. "You said we had a walk ahead?"

"Right," James started. "I thought I'd be remiss if I didn't reveal to you one of my hidden talents."

"You hide talents?" Katie joked.

"As a matter of fact, I do," James answered, an amused smile crossing his face. "_Anyway_, there's a music shop down the other end of the street. I want to take you."

"Music? Well you _are_ just full of surprises aren't you?" the attractive witch grinned.

"So I've been told," James answered with a smirk.

Having slowly progressed about halfway to the shop chatting about what they had done the previous summer, James decided he would have to take the initiative to move beyond their flirty banter and shared interests.

"So…I'm a bit embarrassed we've lived in the same town our whole lives and I don't know you better."

"Yeah. Strange isn't it? Not many witches and wizards in Stroud really."

"Exactly. My dad's mentioned having your family over loads of times–"

"Has he really?" Katie asked, sounding intrigued.

"Yeah. I mean, he's brought it up a dinner a bunch over the years. Have you over for dinner or some Ministry to-do…it's weird he's never followed through on it. Disappointing really." James replied.

"That's interesting. I suppose we travel in different circles though," Katie offered.

"What do you mean?"

"Well…it's just that your parents are prominent people at the Ministry. My mum mostly stayed home to raise me…runs a small catering and party business on the side for our folk and Muggles. My dad works at the Ministry, but he doesn't do anything important really, just sporting business. Got me interested in Quidditch though…"

James waited.

"…honestly, I guess I just didn't realize your family ever thought of us on the other side of Stroud."

"I'm sorry about that," James muttered.

"Forget it, James," Katie said pointedly. "It's hardly your fault."

"So then…where do you live exactly?"

"Outskirts really. Near Cotswold Edge."

"The brown cottage near the tree line?!" James asked, incredulous.

"That's us," Katie answered, surprised that he knew her house. "Not much around really. Though that's nice sometimes."

"I think it's brilliant," James enthused.

Katie regarded him skeptically. "Brilliant? You live on a massive estate."

James looked down.

"Ahh. I've said something."

"No," James quickly insisted. "It's just…I love the country. I know my family estate is still in Stroud, but…I guess I think of it as my parents' place. I don't think I'd want to live out my days there or anything."

"Why not?"

"It's mostly empty. Gets a bit lonely if my friends aren't around. And obviously my family and our whole situation makes life more comfortable, but aside from my broom and my banner…I'm simpler. I think a small cottage…such a beautiful view…I think it's brilliant."

"Hmm…" Katie mused as a silence filled the air between them.

After walking on like that for a few more minutes, they finally reached their destination.

"So there is a music shop after all," Katie chuckled nervously, hoping to brighten the mood again.

James rewarded her with the return of his smile. "Course there is!" he replied, opening the door. "After you."

As they entered the small shop, Katie was dazzled by the number of different instruments crammed into the space. In the windows were the standard fare – a piano, a trumpet, a trombone, and a saxophone. As they moved toward the counter at the back, she began to notice some more exotic looking instruments she couldn't even name.

"Oi! Dom!" James called out.

Hearing his greeting, an elderly gentleman emerged from what appeared to be a dimly lit stockroom. "Mr. Potter!" he happily croaked. "Good to see you again. Finally come to liberate the blatkessel?"

"Afraid not," James frowned. "I think we might be waiting on that one until I get my inheritance…"

"Oh…a shame…you've learned to play it well…"

"James," Katie whispered, "what in the name of Merlin is a blatkessel?"

"Pure wizarding instrument," James whispered back. "It's a sort of staff…notches separate the areas that play different notes. You use different movements and flourishes of the wand to produce the sounds and rhythm of the notes in that area. Dom's a flatterer, I'm dreadful at that thing."

The silence drew the old man's attention back to them. "What brings you in then my dear boy?"

"Well…I was hoping I could convince you to let me borrow one of your violins."

"You could…but whatever for? You must have your own…"

"Right. Afraid they don't allow them at school…but still I was hoping I could play a little something for my friend here," James replied with a wink.

Even at his age, the old man recognized the meaning behind James's signal. "Ahh yes…yes of course," he responded quickly, reaching above the counter to fetch one such instrument from the lowest shelf. Carefully, he handed it to James.

Looking around quickly, James noticed a chair in the far corner. "Miss Wallenby, if you would be so kind as to accompany me over here for a moment."

"Only if you drop the 'Miss' business, _Mr._ Potter," she teased, following him to where he had seen the chair.

"Well," James began, gesturing for his companion to sit, "I promised you a hidden talent, so here you are."

With that, James laid his head against the instrument and began to draw the bow deliberately across the instruments strings. Over the next twenty minutes, he proceeded to produce powerful deep melodies and sharp lively tunes from the Muggle instrument, ultimately finishing his miniature concert with a dramatic flourish of the bow before bowing to the impressed witch in front of him and returning the instrument to its owner.

Katie giggled at James's bow, but quickly rose to clap for his performance. "So there is a softer side to James Potter," she said, arching one eyebrow in his direction.

"I'm not sure about softer… I think I prefer refined," he said airily, raising his nose into the air.

Katie playfully smacked his arm. "Whatever makes you feel better," she smirked. "Where did you learn to play the violin like that anyway?"

"Perk of being left to my own devices during those lonely times I mentioned," James deadpanned.

As they left the shop, James gave a thank you to the owner and opened the door for his date. While they were inside, the sun had been blocked by gathering clouds and both students felt a new chill in the breeze that blew in their direction. As they headed back to the more crowded area of the village, James reached out and locked arms with Katie, drawing her closer to him. Unsure how she would react, James quickly looked down at her. He was delighted to see her smiling back at him, a decidedly increased brightness in her blue eyes and what he thought was a light blush on her freckled cheeks. James returned the smile and they headed off to the Three Broomsticks for drinks.

* * *

Some time later, having both warmed themselves with drinks and a wonderful conversation and enjoyed a visit to Spintwitches' Quidditch Supplies, James and Katie were walking comfortably hand-in-hand in the light of the setting sun. Each found themselves constantly smiling or laughing at the other's joke. As they neared the path back to Hogwarts, the couple's conversation and spates of laughter began to take their faces closer and closer together until finally, at the top of the hill leaving town, James turned his date to face him. Though a curious look played in the attractive young witch's eyes, he was rewarded with another one of her smiles, this one appearing to be nervous and expectant in equal parts.

"So…we're about to go then…anything important I've left undone?" James inquired.

"It's been a wonderful date," Katie said, looking upward for a moment as if to thank the heavens. "Thank you. And thank you for having the sense not to drag me to Madame Puddifoot's."

James laughed. "Yes, well I didn't think that was either of our cup of _tea_."

"Mmm…you are _so _funny…" she mocked, leaning her face forward and turning her eyes down.

James then took hold of both of Katie's hands and lifted her chin so their noses were almost touching. For the moment, silence fell between them. Katie could feel James's hot breath on her face and she licked her lips in anticipation.

"You know, James, I think there _may_ be one _very_ important thing you've forgotten…" Katie whispered suggestively in his ear.

That was all the invitation James Potter needed. Lifting one hand to the back of her head, he closed the last remaining distance between them and pressed his lips to Katie's. The collision was soft and warm and wonderful. He could feel a fire spring to life within him as he felt her press back, deepening the kiss. Breaking briefly for air, the couple exchanged several more short kisses through wide smiles before happily locking hands once again and turning to leave the village behind. As they made their way back to the castle through the fading mid-afternoon sunlight, James wrapped an arm around Katie, pulling her body tightly to him. They spent the remainder of the return trip enjoying their newfound closeness in happy silence, with Katie's head leaning comfortably against James's shoulder.

**A/N:** **If you've been reading the Author's Notes thus far, James's choice shouldn't surprise you. Still, contrary to many of the other chapters I have written up to this point, this one actually began with a particular vision. I originally planned on including the re-emergence of Snape here, but I was unhappy with the first draft that incorporated that element. In my re-read, the experience felt too jarring and hurried. On top of that the way it would mesh with the rest of the chapter panned out better in my head than when I got it typed out, so I'm delaying it for another chapter or two. **


	12. The Price of Popularity

After their first date at Hogsmeade, James Potter had wasted no time in continuing to court Katie Wallenby. She recalled the next two weeks of time spent together fondly. In their Transfiguration lesson the following Tuesday, James had promptly ignored McGonagall's instructions about turning the pieces of straw they had been provided into gold, instead turning his into a bouquet of flowers when the aging professor was helping another student and sending it across the room to Katie with a hastily scrawled note. McGonagall had of course quickly discovered what happened and returned the flowers to their rightful state, but it was the thought that counted.

The following Friday they had been studying together in the library – her request – when she casually mentioned being hungry. The next thing she knew, Katie had been whisked off through a secret entrance to the school kitchens where the house elves, who seemed to know James well, make them no end of delicious treats.

Despite her love of Quidditch, Katie had been nervous when James had asked her to go flying with him earlier that day. When she had come to school she had wanted desperately to make the house team, but after First Year Flying she discovered she was far from a natural and hours of practice over the summers had never been able to correct it. Still, James proved to be an excellent teacher and she thoroughly enjoyed spending time with him in his element. It was after their last run, when they had descended to the center circle, that he had finally asked her if to be exclusive. Both knew they hadn't being seeing anyone else in the intervening time, but she had been ecstatic to make things official.

As she entered the Great Hall with Renee and Marie to join James and his friends for dinner however, everything suddenly felt different. A much larger number of eyes than she was accustomed to seemed to follow her as she walked down the table. Though she couldn't make out what was being said, she could clearly hear other students whispering as she passed. Particularly jarring were the looks she got from some girls she had always had a positive relationship with. More than a few had replaced their usual smiles with glares, while still more wore hesitant, almost pitying expressions. She felt herself beginning to blush as she scanned the table for her boyfriend. Katie was relieved when she saw his messy black hair sticking out from the crowd. Noticing her, he quickly stood and walked to her, pulling her close for a hug and placing a light kiss on her lips. Katie smiled, pushing thoughts of her unsettling walk to the background for the time being.

"Hi!" James said brightly. "Saved you a place," he added, gesturing to an empty space next to Sirius Black that appeared to have room for two. "Renee and Marie, it's a pleasure as always," he nodded, winking. "We've saved you two spots next to Remus."

"Thanks, James…" the girls replied, leaving the couple alone for the moment.

"So…how've you been?" James asked.

"You mean since you saw me two hours ago?" Katie laughed. "Just fine. Listening to Renee and Marie chatter on. Thanks to you they absolutely _insist_ on sharing every tidbit from _Witch Weekly_ with me."

"Ugh," James groaned. "Sounds like a nightmare. You must be starved."

"Yeah…food sounds good right about now," she replied.

* * *

To Katie's relief, conversation with the Marauders came easy. For the roughly an hour they had spent at the table there had been no awkward silences or forced discussions of dismal subjects. She had even been able to squeeze in some one-on-one conversation with James at the table, when a rather peaked looking Remus diplomatically entertained her two friends. Finally however, the time came for the meal to break up.

"Have anything planned tonight?" Katie asked James. She hoped that with no major assignments looming on the horizon she could spend more time alone with her boyfriend, eager to showcase some of her own hidden talents and interests.

"Afraid so," James answered, a solemn expression crossing his face. "I've promised this lot a boys' night."

"Oh?"

"Nothing to worry about," he demurred. "Catching up…sharing a bit of drink…some classified planning."

"Classified?"

"Yes. As in _top secret_."

Katie rolled her eyes. "Finally going to brighten this place up with some more pranks are you?"

James winked, "A gentleman never tells…"

"Right," Katie scoffed. "Well, do try to keep yourself from getting _too_ many detentions won't you?"

"Of course, of course," James assured her. "I have plans of my own you know. Some of which happen to involve you."

"Well, good luck with your little secret meeting," she teased. "See you at breakfast?"

"Definitely," James answered.

James stood as Katie got up to leave. Before parting ways, Katie reached forward and hugged him tightly before pulling back and planting a firm kiss on his mouth. "Just another reason to avoid too much detention," she whispered, winking at her boyfriend as she turned to go.

As she walked out of the Great Hall, Katie once again became conscious of all the eyes on her. Though she had been able to put it out of her mind while with James, nervousness came to the forefront again. As the lead-up to their relationship had played out, Katie had expected a little of this. After all, she reckoned, she had taken one of the most sought-after wizards on the market off the table. Still, it was a bit unsettling how _many_ people seemed to have changed their attitude toward her and how suddenly. She put part of it down to petty jealousy, but it did make her wonder about the whispers and about how much truth there was to James's playboy reputation.

* * *

Returning to Gryffindor Tower, Katie was disappointed to learn that her friends had also made other plans for the evening, assuming without even talking to her that she would be spending that night with James. While it was altogether different, it seemed to Katie to be just another irritating assumption the people around her were making.

Nonetheless, she resolved to put the time to good use. While she had already completed the reading for this week's work, the next looked like the resumption of the heavier loads to which the sixth-years had become accustomed. Though a capable student, she knew she was falling a bit off the pace in Charms and Defense Against the Dark Arts, which were not her best subjects. She knew of course that among his many talents, her boyfriend was an outstanding student, at least in terms of grades. Still, she was determined to stay responsible for learning the skills she needed on her own despite their relationship. Flying was one thing, but outside of that, she didn't feel ready to share too many of her weaknesses or vulnerabilities with him. And Merlin knows how he would react anyway. Breaking away from her thoughts for a moment, she grabbed her bag from off her bed and headed off to the library.

On the way, she found herself passing many groups of other students talking in the corridors. The whispering continued and soon she noticed that some groups of girls abruptly stopped speaking when she drew near. For a time, finding a secluded place in the stacks of dusty books was something of a relief. Being able to truly focus on her work for the first time in a while, she found that some of the material she had struggled with was coming much easier to her now. A sense of satisfaction began to rise within her. Suddenly however, her work was interrupted by loud whispering from a neighboring stack.

"I told you. Don't worry about _her_, Courtney. She's nothing special," one girl said.

"Hmph. Well, James Potter certainly seems to think she is," the other responded, clearly irritated.

Katie's face burned as she realized that her suspicions had been absolutely correct.

"Yeah right," the first girl began sarcastically. "She's just different than what he's had. That's the only reason he's giving her the time of day."

"You think so?" Courtney sniffed.

"It's _so_ obvious. Not counting those disgusting Slytherins, he could have any girl he wants. _You're_ beautiful and funny. And Merlin, at least you know how to dress. She's _so_ plain. A boy like James can't possibly stay attracted to that for long," the first girl reassured.

"I know you're right, Rebecca…" Courtney answered again, "…it's just we have a couple of classes together and I've put in the actual effort with him and then he picks that stupid little _bitch_ out of nowhere?"

Katie was half-broken, half-furious inside as the pair of girls carried on.

"Exactly though, Court, out of _nowhere_. She's nice and she likes Quidditch. That's _all_ she has going for her. You know, my dad told me her dad is almost the lowest in his department at the Ministry, even after all the time he's spent there. Her mom doesn't even have a real job…"

"Really?"

"Absolutely, sweetheart. You have _nothing_ to be freaking out about. James Potter could never bring that kind of girl home to meet _his_ parents. A poor girl on the Potter's estate. She wouldn't even know what to do with herself at dinner."

Katie quietly shut her books, trying to leave their hateful conversation behind before she broke down or did something she would regret. Given that she didn't recognize the two voices, she assumed they must be students in another house, but it was difficult for Katie to understand how they could speak so horribly about her.

Suddenly a third voice entered the conversation, one she recognized as belonging to a Hufflepuff, Whitney Blake. "Hey, you two have been gone forever!"

"I'm just giving Courtney a heart to heart about her little crush on James Potter…" Rebecca said.

"Oh, Courtney, I'm so sorry…" Whitney sympathized.

"I'll be alright once he comes to his senses," Courtney replied, seeming emboldened by her friend's wicked pep talk. "I just can't believe he'd choose _her_."

"Merlin, Court!" Whitney exclaimed, "Nobody can. It's all the school's talking about. There _has_ to be something going on behind closed doors…if you catch my meaning," she said conspiratorially.

That was absolutely _it_. Katie was livid. They weren't even bothering to whisper anymore. And the _whole school_ was talking about it? Drawing her wand she began making her way down the stack so she could round the corner and confront them.

"That _would_ explain it," Rebecca remarked, failing to notice her friends retreating from Katie's rapid advance. "Not that crazy given what she comes from. She's probably after his inheritance…"

Katie thrust her wand into the girl's chest. "Got a problem with me?!" she yelled. "Why don't you say it to my face?! Didn't expect I'd be right on the other side of the stack did you?!"

Rebecca laughed confidently. "I'm _glad_ you heard us you stupid little tart. You're not fooling anybody…when Potter gets tired of whatever you're giving him, you'll end up like all the rest."

Just before Katie was able to start hexing the group into next week, Benji Bamford, a seventh-year Ravenclaw prefect appeared. "Hey! What's going on here?" he shouted. "You! You know there's no wands out in the library!"

As the girls tittered and dispersed, Katie reluctantly put her wand in her back pocket. "I'll give you a break this time," he said sternly, "but if I catch you doing the same again, I'll have to leave your fate to the librarian."

Feeling defeated, Katie slumped down against one the tall stacks of books as soon as she was alone again. So this was what it was like to be topic number one on the Hogwarts rumor mill. Of course, most of what they'd said didn't have a grain of truth to it, but their words still stung. Other parts, she couldn't be sure. She and James's backgrounds _were_ very different. Immediately she felt worse just for entertaining the thought. Katie cast her mind back to their brief conversation about their homes and families in Hogsmeade. In his own words, James had no strong attachment to all the trappings his family's wealth and status brought. Katie doubted that a pretentious set of parents could raise a son with such a disposition. She wanted to talk to him about what happened, but, James was busy tonight and she was stronger than that. This would probably get worse before it got better. Going back around to the row where she had been working earlier, Katie opened her books again, trying to put the gossip and confrontation out of her mind. More work and a good night's sleep would do her good.

* * *

When she came downstairs for breakfast the following morning, James was waiting for her in the common room. Katie smiled the biggest smile she could muster. As they entered the Great Hall together, Katie felt the eyes and whispers more keenly than before. She steeled herself as she passed by the Hufflepuffs she had encountered the night before, though she couldn't avoid noticing their taunting glares and giggling. James seemed blissfully unaware of it all.

However, James Potter was not blissfully unaware of his girlfriend's sudden lack of appetite. Politely breaking away from the group conversation, he hugged Katie tightly. "Hey, what's wrong?" he whispered quietly into her ear.

Katie pulled out of the hug and looked up at him. "Nothing…" she said lamely.

"Pssh," James scoffed. "You've barely eaten. And I've been missing that smile all morning."

Katie smiled back weakly. It would be an easy invitation to take, especially with the poor job she was obviously doing trying to act normally. She looked away and took a small bite of egg.

To her side, she heard James failing to suppress a laugh. "Not convincing," he whispered back.

"I'm just tired is all…it was a late night trying to work through some assignments I'm behind on."

James studied his girlfriend. He knew both he and her closest friends had left her in the lurch last night. Tiredness _could_ be a plausible explanation. Still, there was something different about her. The vibrancy and self-confidence she usually exhibited – part of what made her so attractive – seemed to have all but melted away.

"Those books must have really kicked your arse last night then…" he trailed off.

Katie sighed. Another opening. The two passed the next several minutes in silence.

"Come on then," James said suddenly, standing up from the table.

"What? Where?" Katie asked, perplexed.

"You're not eating anything," he said plainly. "No sense in sticking around here."

When she accepted his outstretched hand, he pulled Katie to her feet and continued holding her hand as they exited the Great Hall. This time, James watched her closely. She seemed to be very ill-at-ease as they walked between the tables, eyes down. He noticed a harsh whisper from a group of Hufflepuff girls as they passed by and though he couldn't make out what they'd said, the flush in Katie's cheeks did not escape his attention. As they walked through the large wooden doors into the corridor outside, James pulled led her quickly around the nearest corner and stopped.

"Alright. You can just tell me what's really going on with you now, or I can pester you all day until you give it up," James said, crossing his arms in front of him.

"James…" she groaned.

"I'm known to be very persistent…" he replied, running a hand through his hair and trying to disarm her with his trademark smirk.

"I know…I just…I don't want to be _that_ girl. I've always handled my own problems…" Katie mumbled.

"But now," James prodded, "you have a boyfriend. And as even the dullest witch will tell you that means your problems are my problems. I know you're _far_ from dull. So that makes me think the problem has something to do with me."

"Well–"

"Aha!" James interrupted. "Right again!"

Katie shifted uneasily on her feet, breaking eye contact with James. He was really going to force her to have this conversation. "It's Hogwarts," she sighed. "It's the stares and the whispers and the rumors going around…"

James frowned. "What rumors?"

"It shouldn't be a big deal," Katie deflected. "I mean I'm sure you're used to it…you've been popular for ages…and with Quidditch and your pranks and everything…I guess it just doesn't faze you anymore, right?" she rambled.

"Katie," James started, locking his hazel eyes onto her pained blue ones, "what rumors?"

"It's nothing, it's–"

"It's clearly not," James insisted.

"Alright!" she said louder-than-intended. Before continuing she scanned the hallway and peered around the corner to make sure no one was listening in. "You know, since I became your girlfriend, almost immediately people started looking at me differently. Especially girls. It felt like everybody was whispering about me behind my back. Merlin…I sound paranoid…"

"Not at all, actually," James reassured her.

"Anyway, I really did do a lot of work on Charms and Defense last night. You were busy," she began, "and I get that – you need time with your friends – I'm not _that_ girl either. Renee and Marie just assumed I'd be with you so they went off somewhere, and I decided I'd just get some work done in the library."

"And?"

"And I was feeling really good about what I'd gotten done, when I heard these girls one row over just start whispering really loudly. And pretty quickly, I figured out I hadn't been imagining that people were talking about me behind my back."

The understanding, sympathetic expression that had marked her boyfriend's face before had now been firmly replaced by a scowl.

"I…I don't want to go into all of it…they just…I mean I don't even know them and they were saying such hateful things about me…really cruel things about my family…they accused me of…" Katie paused, feeling her anger rising to the surface once again. "In so many words…doing you…err _favors_…and that's the only reason you were with me."

James felt his fists clench. "Who? Who said all this?" he growled.

"James…I don't even know them. I mean, I almost hexed them, but this prefect–"

"You almost hexed them?" James interrupted.

"Well…yeah," Katie said, finally showing James at least part of her genuine smile. "It was either that or cry about it…I'm not really a crier…"

"Shame somebody stopped you…" James thought aloud. He looked down for a moment. Katie thought she noticed sadness, or maybe disappointment enter his eyes. After a few seconds he met her eyes again. "I'm sorry, Katie."

"It's alright…" she offered. "It's just…something to adjust to I guess. I'll be fine…" She felt James touch her arm.

"No. It's not alright. You shouldn't have to deal with it," he said, shaking his head.

"Well, it's hardly your fault–"

"It is my fault. I have a certain reputation. You shouldn't have to pay for it."

"Everybody has a past, James–"

"And I'm not proud of this part of mine. I want you to know that."

"Well I never judged you on it. I want you to know that."

James smiled and nodded. "Thanks for that." He wrapped his hands around Katie's waist, hugging her before gently kissing her forehead. "Better?" he asked.

"Better."

**A/N: Since the view is to treat James and Katie's relationship as "stand-alone" rather than simply a tool to facilitate the endgame pairing, I thought it was important to demonstrate quickly that James and Katie will have "issues" to work through. As a light preview, the next few chapters will include Snape's return, Lily's POV, learning more about Katie, and one full chapter that is Marauder-centric. Though I make no promises, the goal is to get through Christmas within the next seven chapters or so, at which point I think sixth year will progress fairly quickly, including addressing the situation in the world outside Hogwarts, which will have crucial implications for not just the post-graduation portion of this story, but also for seventh year. Hope you continue to enjoy the ride!**


	13. The Prince's Plot

After a busy day of lessons, Severus Snape walked into the Slytherin common room and quickly took a seat in one of the black leather chairs in the corner. Finally, after all of his careful progress, his spells were finally working. It had been only too easy to convince his Head of House to write him an indefinite pass to continue his research in the restricted section at the beginning of the year. That the old man arrogantly assumed his intention was to better his skills at potion-making was none of his concern. Severus had been incredibly pleased to discover just how much information about the art of spell construction lie in the ancient, dusty texts. He had already succeeded in creating a charm to ensure his conversations with Avery and Mulciber remained private and had cleverly altered some commonplace spells for more sinister purposes.

Of course, unlocking the spells was only a small part of his short-term objective. After years of torment, he would finally be able to give James Potter and his insufferable friends the payback they deserved. When word had reached his ears of Potter's new relationship he had considered striking early. As far as he could discern, the girl must have barely qualified for N.E.W.T.-level Defense Against the Dark Arts. The power behind her offensive spells was pathetic and in their practice duels her movements and combinations were completely inept. She would make an easy target and it would be a simple way to strike out at Potter.

However, the more thought he gave it, the more he realized that it would be far more satisfying to wait. Once he had perfected his spells, once he had mastered some of the advanced dueling techniques he had discovered, even Potter and Black would be no match for him. Finally, _they_ would be at _his_ mercy. And he was certain to take further joy in hexing the girl then. Yes. He smiled. Then he could hex the girl in front of Potter. The humiliation would be all the more severe when he was completely unable to stop it.

The boy's wicked thoughts were interrupted by the arrival of his associates, Avery and Mulciber.

"What'd you want?" Mulciber asked brusquely.

"Sit," Snape replied, gesturing to the chair across from him. "Where's Avery?"

"He'll be along," the dour-looking wizard replied curtly.

Snape felt his temper rise. His plans required immediate preparation. "Fine…"

After spending several minutes in heavy silence, Callum Avery arrived to join them, slumping his heavyset frame against the wall.

"_Muffliato_," Snape muttered, ensuring they could not be overheard.

"Is it finally time for payback?" Avery grumbled. "I'm not willing to sit on my hands any longer…"

"You will if I say so," Snape shot back coldly. "Unless of course you want Slughorn to learn just who has been breaking into his personal stores…"

Avery smoldered in his chair, but said nothing.

"The time has almost arrived," Snape said. "But we have to finish _all_ the required preparation. If we go into this recklessly we'll only be made further fools of."

"What's left?" Mulciber complained. "You have more than enough spells ready–"

"To handle our targets, yes," Snape interrupted. "But their housemates that will surely arrive to protect them? And the location? We can hardly do it in front of professors or where we would be outnumbered. We'd be caught and identified in minutes. And of course there's the matter of your father's much…larger…plans," he finished.

Mulciber sat back, stewing. "What do want from us then?"

The right side of Snape's mouth curled upward in a self-satisfied sneer. "I will continue working on the spells we'll need and pick a location. In the meantime, you and Avery need to start tracking their movements. And Potter's little band as well."

Both of his associates nodded and left the corner as Snape canceled his muffling charm. Though he had long since grown tired of their idiotic simplicity, they served their purpose. Things could move along much quicker this way, and with a greater chance of success. Once they were ready it was be almost impossible for any of their fellow students to overpower the three of them. And if the right location were chosen, there would never be enough interlopers to stop them.

Of course, the other crucial piece was the ties his housemates had to the larger movement outside the confines of Hogwarts. He could already tell it was beginning to sow seeds of fear in their world. It was only natural that he was far from the only one to find their position seductive. Magical folk had been subjected to ridicule, torture, and murder at the hands of Muggles for too long. The notion that their world, full of people far more powerful, far better, had to live in secrecy appalled him.

Snape's thoughts naturally turned toward home. He considered all the haughty Muggles who looked down on he and his family. They didn't realize that even as a boy, only the misguided rules of his society prevented him from removing their smug or pitying looks from their faces. And of course there was his Muggle father. He was just a closer example. Their situation could have been improved dramatically if he only had the wisdom to allow his mother to use her magic. Instead, he forced her to stay hidden, while he wasted his wages getting plastered at pubs, coming home late, drunk and abusive.

Then there was Lily Evans. She was stubbornly impossible to purge from his mind. As far as Severus was concerned, she was the only good thing to have come from a pair of Muggles. Though he had squandered that in a moment of weakness, he thought bitterly. He cursed himself for lumping her in with the rest of the incompetent Muggle-borns when she had only defended him. After the many months that had passed since, that slur was still his greatest regret. She had claimed otherwise in her letter ending their friendship, but he knew the truth. It was the slur that had pushed her over the edge. It was also the greatest source of his rage toward James Potter. Had it not been for the loathsome, arrogant swine he would never have been moved to say it. Not to Lily.

Snape's thoughts returned quickly to realizing his plans. Potter _would_ be made to pay. He deserved it.

**A/N:** **Phew. Second shortest chapter here, really focusing on Snape's emotional and mental state more than anything. Despite spending a lot of time thinking about how Snape would be at this time in his life, he was difficult to write. Ultimately, I concluded that he was most likely filled with anger and a strong desire for revenge, especially as his powers and magical competency, particularly in the Dark Arts grow. There will be a return to lengthier chapters soon, but hopefully you still enjoyed this one. Any thoughts on Snape's portrayal would definitely be much appreciated.**


	14. Special Appointment

Lily Evans sat at one of the more secluded tables in the library with her legs perfectly crossed. While she usually preferred to study amongst the stacks, she had a rare group-study appointment with some of the other Gryffindors from her Potions class. As she waited for the others to arrive after dinner, Lily absentmindedly fiddled with her hair, noticing to her dismay that she was suffering from a case of split ends again. Throughout her time at Hogwarts she had been resistant to using any of the magical products other witches used to avoid them, feeling more comfortable with the Muggle practices her mother had schooled her in over the years. She exhaled loudly. Lily had always prized punctuality. She had any number of essays she could be working on or Christmas letters she could be writing in advance of the looming holidays, but instead she had agreed to meet four of her housemates who were struggling in one of her best subjects. Though kindness was in her nature, she also couldn't help but think how nice it might have been to accept Marlene and Alana's invitation to join them for girls' night in.

Fifteen minutes later, the first of her housemates finally appeared. Sauntering in at a snail's pace was Brandon Waters, a tall, lanky boy who hailed from Manchester and spent more time reading Quidditch magazines and articles during Slughorn's lectures than he did taking notes. The next two to arrive were Maggie Brinkley, brown hair up in her trademark ponytail and her blonde-haired, blue-eyed boyfriend, Anders Svensson, whose family had immigrated to Britain in his youth. As the couple took seats next to one another at the table, she finally noticed her partner, Lionel Baird. Lionel's tall, well-proportioned frame and chiseled jawline were always a welcome sight to her, though on this occasion he seemed a bit red in the face.

"Lily…" he panted, "I'm so sorry I'm late. First I left my book behind, and then after I got it I was halfway here and I realized I was out of ink–"

Lily chuckled. "It's fine. Really. Everyone else just got here as well."

As her housemates all pulled their supplies from their bags, Lionel spoke up again. "Does anyone have a particular topic they wanted to–"

"I do!" Maggie interrupted. "Anders and I have just really been dreading that essay Slughorn assigned about methods of extending the effective duration of Polyjuice Potion. At first glance, I mean obviously it seems straightforward, but there are just so many options."

"Well," Lily frowned, "there really aren't _that_ many Maggie. Polyjuice is so delicate that the addition of even a basic fortifying ingredient could be disastrous. So it's really more a matter of sorting through which ingredients in the formula itself could be safely tweaked or offset and how that all fits with the very complicated brewing instructions."

"See! I told you!" Maggie exclaimed to her boyfriend. "Anders sort of doubted that he should come Lily, but I told him you really would have some brilliant bit like that to share!"

* * *

Almost two hours later, the exhausting session was finally over. Maggie had clearly come armed with dozens of questions, not including her many follow-ups. In typical fashion, Brandon had simply mooched off the others, furiously scribbling down Lily's thoughts on any matter that was brought up by the other three.

Lionel on the other hand, despite being the latest of the three, had actually proven to be a pleasant surprise. Given his performance in the class in their first five years of school, Lily had been amazed his O.W.L.s even qualified him to take N.E.W.T.-level Potions and frankly concerned about the effect having him as her partner might have on her marks. Still, he had been as even more pleasant to talk to than he was to look at, which was saying something, and with her help seemed to be well on his way in the class. That night he had even managed to answer some of Maggie's flurry of questions so that Lily had been able to catch her breath.

Shaking her thoughts clear, Lily realized that everyone but Lionel had already packed up and left. "I suppose they got what they came for," she muttered.

"Yes, well…you should still be flattered, Lily," Lionel started. "It's not every day people in your own year feel comfortable asking you for help."

"That's nice of you to say," she replied politely.

"I mean it. I mean, working with you this term has been brilliant. Getting to know you better too," the broad-shouldered young man said, running a hand over his closely-cropped hair.

"Well, I've enjoyed getting to know you too," she responded earnestly. "You've been a breath of fresh air, especially compared to our other housemates in there."

"You mean our friends from tonight?"

Lily answered his question with a knowing look.

Lionel chuckled.

"I really shouldn't say that…it's not polite," Lily sighed.

"I won't tell," Lionel said, giving her a wink and a light nudge.

A silence fell between them as Lionel finished packing his things away.

"Lily?" he said suddenly.

"Yes?"

"I…well, I wasn't going to do this tonight…didn't seem like the place, but…like I said, I've really enjoyed getting to know you in class. I think you're brilliant. Really talented obviously, but a classy witch as well. I wanted to know if you'd go to Hogsmeade with me next trip."

"Oh," Lily said, surprised at the turn of events. "Lionel–"

"It's alright if it's a no. I can take it."

Lily cleared her throat, fixing her partner with an impatient stare. "What I was _going_ to say is yes, I'll go with you."

"Oh! Excellent!" he exclaimed, smiling widely. "So two weeks then? I'll meet you in the common room before breakfast?"

"Sounds great," Lily said.

* * *

Lily had been planning to study the remainder of the evening, but for some reason she found it difficult to get the sudden turn of events out of her head. Calling time on her studies for the evening, she decided to see how her two friends were doing. With a little luck, they'd be free to talk.

As she approached the door to her room, Lily was disappointed to hear three voices instead of only two. Though there were four beds in their dormitory, they had been fortunate at the sorting ceremony to only end up with three girls in their room. Clearly though, when Lily had been forced to miss out, Marlene and Alana had welcomed a new girl in. Sighing, she opened the door.

"Lily!" exclaimed Marlene. "You're back! I thought you were going to study late after your meeting?"

"So did I," Lily muttered, dumping her bag on her bed before looking to see who else was with them.

"Hi, Lily," Katie Wallenby said brightly.

"Oh! Hi, Katie! I wondered who the other voice I heard was."

The other three girls in the room exchanged glances before Katie nodded her head.

"Sorry to surprise you, Lily," Alana began, "it's just Katie's been getting a bit of a rough time of it from a lot of folks lately. We thought she could use some support."

Before thinking about what she was about to say, Lily blurted, "That's Potter for you." An awkward silence fell over the room and without looking up, she could feel the brown-haired witch staring at her. Lily's face flushed with embarrassment. "I'm sorry, Katie…"

"It's fine," Katie said evenly. "I'm not going to ask you to pretend you like him. I already know you don't."

"It's not fine," Lily replied, shaking her head. "That was rude of me. I don't even know what's going on."

"Just people being nasty," Marlene offered. "All the charter members of the James Potter fan club have got their feelings hurt and they're being jealous and catty."

"Gryffindors?" Lily asked.

"Course not!" Alana answered. "It's mostly Hufflepuffs if you can believe it. Whitney Blake's bunch. They're not doing themselves any favors. Sirius Black is chasing her skirt and if he finds out about it, it's bound to come back to James who's behind it…"

"Merlin, I hope not," Katie groaned.

"Why?!" Alana asked. "It's no less than they deserve!"

"I don't know. It's not going to make it any better. James was already prepared to hex someone into tomorrow when we talked about it. I think it would just create more drama."

"Already defending your honor…he's adorable," Marlene praised.

Katie blushed. "Is it wrong to feel good about that?"

"No way!" Marlene shouted.

"Good!" she smiled. "He was really great about it all around actually. I wasn't going to bring it up until he forced me to tell him what was wrong. He really listened to me about it. He even apologized for it."

"_He_ apologized?" Alana asked, looking confused.

"Yeah…well…I feel a little bad about that part, but he was so insistent. He's blamed himself for it. You know because of his whole history…" Katie trailed off.

Well, Lily thought to herself, James Potter is just _full _of surprises this year.

Before the conversation about him went any further however, Katie mercifully ended it. "I think we're boring Lily now…"

"Pssh," Marlene scoffed. "She's always staring off like that. Likely thinking about all the studying she's not doing right now," she snarked, hoping to get a rise out of her friend.

"I was not thinking about class or books or anything of the sort," Lily huffed.

"Well, what's on your mind then? Anything special happen to you tonight?"

Lily groaned inwardly. Did she really want to open this can of worms? It was already getting late. And with Katie there as well…a girl she hardly knew?

Unfortunately for Lily, her friend could smell the scent of a withheld secret. "Mmm…something did happen…"

"It's not a big deal…" Lily demurred.

"Then come on with it," Alana insisted.

Lily sighed. "Lionel Baird asked me to Hogsmeade."

"What did you say?"

"Yes."

"That's it?"

"Yes, I'll go?"

"Lily that's great!" Marlene and Alana enthused, crossing the room to give her a big hug.

"I've been saying since your first…" Alana paused, "…anyways, I've been saying forever that you needed a date! It's about time!"

"Did you have any idea it was coming?" Marlene asked.

"Not at all. I mean we're partners in Potions this year and we've obviously talked and gotten to know each other, but he definitely caught me off guard."

"I'm happy for you Lily, but…ugh!" Alana grumbled. "You and Katie are both _so_ lucky. Two of Hogwarts' hottest wizards…"

That topic having been brought up, Lily realized that any attempts to break away and study in her room would be a complete waste of effort. Easing her bag from her bed to the ground, she flopped down on her stomach and resolved to give her best effort to participating in a long conversation she had very little interest in for the rest of the night.

**A/N: This chapter gives me some mixed feelings because I feel like my timeline for the middle of sixth year has gotten a bit more crunched than I would've liked. While not having a lot of development of Lionel and Lily's dynamic was always part of the plan because I wanted his question to be a surprise she decided to roll with, I'm not entirely happy with how quickly it had to come on the heels of the start of James and Katie's relationship. Still, after wrestling with it before undertaking this chapter, I think it's most important that the timeline get crunched up here as opposed to later on, where the story will become a lot more complex in terms of the number of characters and plot lines there are to deal with. Hopefully in the long run, this won't drive you crazy. At any rate, the next chapter should take us up to the release of students for the Christmas holiday and finally deliver on what must be starting to seem like empty promises to get the Marauders more involved in the story.**


	15. Progress

The December Hogsmeade weekend fell just two weeks before Christmas this year, a welcome last hurrah for the students before the frantic final week of preparation for mid-year examinations. As Lily Evans awoke in her dormitory, she was pleased to find the ground covered by a smooth layer of snow. Although it was difficult to tell from her window in Gryffindor Tower, she was confident that at least several inches had been deposited on the grounds overnight. From the look of the sky, there could be more coming.

If the presence of new fallen snow were not enough to lift her spirits, surely they were buoyed by the most important fact about today – Lionel Baird was taking her to Hogsmeade. Accepting his offer had initially been a spur of the moment decision, fueled by the positive rapport they had enjoyed throughout the semester and the strapping Gryffindor's humble manner of asking. It was a far cry from what she had become used to in fourth year, when her male classmates appeared to be discovering girls existed for the first time and certainly a welcome relief from the incessant, arrogant attempts by James Potter during her fifth. After that night in the library, Lily grew to become even happier she had accepted, as Lionel had seemed much less reserved around her both in classes and the halls.

Rolling out of bed, Lily considered what she had to wear. It had been some time since she had been on a date, let alone a proper one. Scanning her clothing briefly she realized that most of what she had with her would be either too plain or unsuitable. Though she was not the kind of girl to spend hours on her appearance before a date, she did do her best to look fetching in whatever she wore. Lily scratched her head. If only she had delayed meeting up with Lionel until it was time to leave for the village…

Lily's thoughts were suddenly interrupted by something soft striking her in the back of the head from across the room. Sparing a moment to glare at Alana, who was presently wearing an impish grin, she picked up the ball of socks that had struck her and fired it back at her blonde-haired friend.

"Trouble deciding what to wear for Lionel?" her friend teased, drawing out the young man's name as she spoke.

"I really don't have much," Lily replied glumly.

"Pssh! I'll help!" Alana scoffed, tossing her head back in the direction of a messy mop of dark brown hair. "And if I can't come up with something you like, then we'll just have to find something to wake up Marlene over there."

Together, the two girls began picking through Lily's wardrobe. Alana grumbled to herself as she surveyed the options. "Merlin, Lily. Did you plan on even trying to get a date at all this term?"

"Wasn't the top of my priority list, no," she answered sharply.

"Well, you can hardly wear any of these skirts in this weather, even with tights. Your jeans are all too casual…"

"Incredibly helpful observations," Lily replied, rolling her eyes. "You know if I'd known you'd be this much help, I might as well have asked a troll."

"Don't blame me for you not planning for this!" Alana protested. "Surely you could've brought yourself _one_ outfit in case you found at least _one_ worthy wizard…"

Ignoring her friend's teasing, Lily reached for a pair of chocolate brown pants. "What about these?" she asked, holding them up.

"They have potential…" Alana noted. "Why don't you go fix yourself up while I keep looking? If you're nice, maybe I'll share something of mine…"

Grabbing her shower bag, Lily trudged off to follow her friend's advice.

Upon her return, she felt much better. Though time was running short, she had managed to wash up and get her make-up right. Despite the fact that she would be wearing pants, she decided she had shaved her legs as well, reasoning that taking the extra measure might put her in a more date-like frame of mind. And of course it would also have its benefits if her time with Lionel that day didn't end in Hogsmeade. She _had_ brought a couple of her best skirts with her, and once back inside…

"Morning, Lily!" Marlene shouted brightly as she entered their room again.

"Morning," Lily answered quickly before approaching her wardrobe where the brown-haired girl seemed to be in conference with Alana.

"Well, it turns out you're not _entirely_ hopeless," Alana began, pulling out the chocolate colored pants she and Lily had looked at earlier. "I think these are the best you've got on the bottom, with that cream colored sweater, your riding boots, and your peacoat, I think you'll look cute."

"Sounds good to me," Lily said, waving her friends away as she began to get dressed. "After all," she continued, turning her head, "you _are_ the Queen of _Witch Weekly_."

As she began to button the blouse she had decided to wear under the sweater, her comments were rewarded with another blow from behind, the aforementioned peacoat being the weapon of choice on this occasion.

* * *

After enjoying a delightful breakfast with Lionel and making their way to the village, Lily found herself arm in arm with her companion on the main street. Her long red hair had been left down to provide her ears added shelter from the cold and the sunlight reflecting off the snow around them glinted off the silver necklace and simple earrings she had decided to wear. The street was filled with sounds of laughter and the students moved briskly from shop to shop, picking up candy, refreshments, and other items that struck their fancy.

Breaking from the idle chit-chat that had occupied their journey from the castle, Lionel announced that their first destination would be none other than Madame Puddifoot's the tea shop and traditional stop for students making a couples visit to Hogsmeade. Lily acknowledged the plan with a smile and a nod, but inside her mind immediately whirred back to life from its temporary slumber. It struck her as an odd place to start the date and also seemed rather uninventive. Still, at least Lionel seemed to have a plan, and one that he was confident in. It was best not to judge the course of the day too quickly, she reminded herself.

Entering the cramped shop before many other students had arrived they were able to take a seat close to one of the windows. Lily was pleased that Lionel avoided any of the tables in the corners. The plump, rather matronly proprietor quickly arrived to take their order. Ever the gentleman, Lionel gestured toward Lily to ensure that hers would be taken first.

"I suppose it's not too late for Breakfast Tea?" Lily said.

"Of course not dear," the woman answered, a Quick-Notes Quill scribbling abruptly onto a small pad.

"A coffee for me," Lionel volunteered. "Black."

After another short scribble, the quill and its owner departed the table to leave the two students in peace.

"You can take it black?" Lily asked, surprised.

"Learned from my parents," Lionel shrugged. "I asked them the same thing though the first several times I tried it," he laughed.

"I can barely stand any tea without _loads_ of sugar," Lily said.

"Well, when I was young things were tough. Mum was basically a secretary at the Ministry and Dad…he cleaned up after hours. They told me they spent their money on me instead of cream and sugar."

So that was where his humility came from. It was amazing to hear that the Bairds' had gotten such a lowly start. "Isn't your Mum a writer for the _Prophet_ now?" Lily asked. "And your Dad, he runs his own business right?"

Lionel laughed. "Yeah, funny how things change. Dad got really good with the whole cleaning thing so now the Ministry buys its cleaning stuff from him. Mum was always good with words. Had a nice boss once who left for the paper and took her with him. She started writing awhile later when some of the authors left."

"That's an impressive story. Especially the way things usually seem to work in the magical world."

"I suppose. I just hope I can do them proud one day." Lionel paused. "Anyway, what do your Mum and Dad do?"

"Well, Mum stayed home to raise me and my sister. I really don't know what she'll do when we finally graduate. Dad works at a big accounting firm. He's the manager of his department."

"Sorry…accounting?" Lionel looked completely puzzled.

Lily looked down, slightly embarrassed at her oversight. Even after all this time, she still forgot sometime that some Muggle careers didn't exist for witches and wizards. "Right. Well I'm sure you remember math lessons from before Hogwarts…he basically does really advanced math to help other companies that pay my dad's firm to keep track of their money."

"Numbers. I try to steer clear…" Lionel admitted. "Sounds important though…" he offered uncertainly.

Lily chuckled. "Yes, well…I'm sure Dad's clients think so. He's able to take care of us well. But between you and me…I think it's dreadful."

Madame Puddifoot returned to set down their drinks. "Anything else dears?"

Both Lionel and Lily started to speak up at the same time, briefly dissolving into nervous laughter. When they made no move to actually answer, the lady walked away shaking her head. "Take that as a no then."

As they raised their heads, Lionel watched Lily as she smiled, brushing her hair back behind her ears. He caught better sight of her earrings and watched as the sun illuminated her cheeks. They had a slight rosy hue from where she had applied her make-up. The sight of her took him to a far off place.

"Ahem," Lily cleared her throat.

Lionel instantly returned to the table. "You've caught me then," he said, looking downward.

"Have I?" Lily asked, her eyes light with amusement.

"I'm sorry. I ought not stare…it's just…you look beautiful today."

"Thank you, Lionel!" Lily said earnestly. "You know, I didn't have much to wear this morning…I wasn't sure…"

"I wasn't talking about your clothes, Lily…" Lionel chuckled.

Lily blushed, but stayed silent.

From that point on, Lionel stuck to safer topics.

* * *

As their date wound to a close, Lily allowed Lionel to lead her back toward the castle. The date had gone well. Lionel had been the perfect gentleman all day long, offering her his scarf when a breeze kicked up, even giving in to her request to spend some time in Tomes and Scrolls, the local bookshop. Though she knew her date did not share her love of books or passion for learning from being in classrooms with him all those years, she was struck by how patient he was with her despite his disinterest. If she was perfectly honest, the experience was far different than expected. While she knew Lionel avoided overt bravado, she had secretly waited for arrogance to shine through in some way, as it tended to do with most of her schoolmates who fell on the attractive end of the bell curve. Having seen none whatsoever refreshed and excited her and she was reluctant to let their time together end. Still, Lionel had given no indication that he wanted to continue their time together beyond the visit to the village. Before she knew it, they had parted in the Gryffindor common room without addressing the issue.

Wandering upstairs to check on her friends, Lily found them waiting.

"So…" urged Alana.

"How did it go?" Marlene finished.

Lily rolled her eyes. "How long have you two been waiting here to ask me that?"

"Ugh," Marlene groaned. "Don't flatter yourself. We just got here ten minutes before you."

"Don't mind sourpuss," Alana interjected. "Tell us everything!"

Lily shed her coat and sat down on her bed. "It was wonderful," she gushed. "You know, it was like my waiting, my patience after everything that's happened completely paid off. He was kind, he was humble, he planned everything out. Even things I was a little skeptical about at first turned out nicely."

"Like?"

"Well, we started the morning at Madame Puddifoot's…you know, I worried that maybe, starting there he had certain expectations of how things would go…but he must've known there'd be almost nobody there then because we were able to have a very nice conversation."

"You always were partial to very nice conversations," Alana ribbed.

"Conversation is important to me…" Lily replied. "Especially after…"

"Oh, Lily, I know," the blonde Gryffindor said sympathetically. "I wasn't meaning to go down that road."

Lily sighed. "Anyway, I'm just not sure if he saw the date the same way as me."

"What do you mean?" piped Marlene.

"Well, I felt like I made it pretty clear on the way back that I was disappointed we had to part so soon…you know, dropping hints here and there about being free tonight and the like…but he never even asked me to meet him for dinner. Just a polite goodbye."

"What did he give you? A handshake?"

"No, I mean we hugged."

"Hugged how?" Alana asked.

"I mean it wasn't some passionate, miss-you-terribly sort of thing, but it was more than friendly."

"Well, he sounds fairly restrained and traditional to me, Lily…" Marlene commented. "Which, you know, could be really great for you. But at the same time, maybe he just doesn't want you to feel like he's rushing you. I really wouldn't worry about it. If it went as well as you said, I'm sure he'll follow up."

"Marlene's right," Alana added, pausing before flashing he friend a devious grin. "You know, maybe your hug was just so overwhelming that he had to get away…rub one out, you know, and he just never–"

"You're twisted! You know that?" Lily barked, flinging a pillow at Alana. "I'm sure it's like Marlene said. He's just very patient and respectful and–"

Lily's sentence was interrupted by a pillow to the face from Marlene. Before she could bark at her brown-haired assailant however, the pillow she had pelted Alana with struck her in the side of the face as well. As their dormitory dissolved into a furious pillow fight, the time to wait for dinner flew by.

* * *

When dinner finally did arrive, all the students present were greeted by the magnificent sight of an enormous Christmas tree located down and to the right of the staff table. A thriving green mass that stretched the height of the Great Hall, the tree had been carefully charmed to glow in all the right places, so that light perfectly illuminated every facet of the many ornaments and enlarged trinkets that had been carefully hung on its branches.

"There she is lads," said Sirius quietly.

"I don't think they've ever got one that big before," Peter gaped.

"I think you're right about that," Sirius replied. "It's perfect. Absolutely perfect."

James grumbled. "Since when did a Christmas tree take your breath away, Padfoot?"

Sirius winked and smiled at James conspiratorially. "Since one became the main target of our best holiday prank _ever_," he whispered loudly.

"Bloody hell, Padfoot," James shot back. "I promised Katie _not_ to spend all my free nights in detention."

"You and the girlfriend again! You know, I never expected Wallenby to be interfering in our pranks! She's always seemed to enjoy them!"

"Katie's not interfering you git," James snapped.

"Well, if you're not going to help me on this, she most certainly is! Where is she? Perhaps we need to have a word…"

"I don't think so," James said sharply. "I never said I wasn't going to help. All I'm saying is we need to be extra careful."

Looking up from his plate briefly, Remus fixed his bickering friends with a stare. "Calm down boys, unless you want this to be over before it's begun…"

James thought for a moment. True, he had promised Katie he'd do his best to avoid detentions. Still, it had been some time since he had pulled off a grand one. While their exploits earlier in the term had sated him to a point, reflecting on it, he had to admit that Sirius had made a fair point. It was hardly their best work, and the lack of consequences put somewhat of a damper on the thrill of accomplishment. Besides, he reasoned, he and Katie didn't have any concrete plans for next term yet. So long as they waited until just before the end of term and avoided a Hogsmeade ban…

James looked up and flashed Sirius the smirk his friend had not seen in quite some time. "Well, out with it then. What's the plan?"

An enormous smile crossed his best friend's face as he almost dragged James across the table into a hug. "Glad you asked, Prongs! I knew you'd finally come back around!"

From above his potatoes, Remus rolled his eyes and prepared for the worst.

"So," Sirius began, keeping his voice to a hushed whisper, "the way I figure it, is we wait until the last possible moment. Reason one, we can't get punished this term. Reason two, it gives us the biggest audience of all, at the end of term feast."

"Excellent, I'm with you," James whispered back, encouraging Sirius to continue.

"First thing is we liberate one of the carriages. Then we sneak it over to Hagrid's, borrow a few of his pumpkins as well. Then we transfigure the lot into a sleigh and reindeer. Remus, you're a hot hand at Charms…I figure you can charm the thing to fly through the halls…maybe make it sing some carols…"

"Assuming you keep it small enough to fit…" Remus warned.

"Of course, of course…keep it small. Then Pete, as it comes down toward the feast, you levitate me and James into the sleigh. We'll have a bag full of some delightful exploding presents to shower on everyone and then make our getaway."

"Levitate you into a moving…" Peter trailed off, deeply skeptical.

"Come on, you've levitated us both dozens of times for dungbomb drops!" Sirius answered.

"I'll do my best," the concerned boy replied.

"Sirius – mind if I add a bit?" James prodded.

"Add a bit? Mind? Of course not!"

"Well, first it just seems you've forgotten the tree–"

"Merlin, you're right! I got caught up in the moment, Prongs!"

"No matter. I have the perfect thing for it…it'll be a surprise."

"Do I even want to know what the rest is James?" Remus queried.

"Of course Remus…all I was going to suggest is that we replace the Slytherins' presents with gigantic lumps of coal…"

"Gigantic lumps of coal?"

"Gigantic!" James said.

"And where would we get these lumps of coal?"

"Well, I was going to leave that to you. Maybe some pebbles from the lake…you could transfigure them or just enlarge them and make them look black…"

"You lot will be helping with that bit," Remus shot back immediately.

"Absolutely. Of course, Moony," Sirius answered. "So James…you're absolutely in?"

"One hundred percent. This – is – brilliant!" James exclaimed, failing to restrain his voice enough to avoid drawing attention.

"Sorry I'm a bit late, James," Katie said, suddenly sitting next to her surprised boyfriend. "I was working hard on that essay we were set in Herbology. What's so brilliant?"

"Err…" James stalled.

Katie gave James a deeply questioning look. "James Potter…" she warned. "What are you up to?"

As James watched her scrutinize him with that suspicious gaze, he recognized the crossroads he had been at many times before. Somehow it was always the same. He could lie or tell the truth. There was no time to ask permission from his friends to share the kind of plan they had always agreed should stay secret. But there was no way to escape her question either. He could tell the truth, and risk the ire or ridicule of his friends, and the possible failure of their plan before it got started. Or he could tell a lie, a lie that had become incredibly easy in exactly this situation because he had told it _so_ many times before. A lie that would undermine any trust Katie might have in him. James looked at Sirius with a hard look and saw his friend's eyes widen as he realized what James was about to do.

"James?" Katie asked again.

"We were just planning an absolutely amazing holiday prank," James said confidently.

Across the table, Remus looked up again to survey the situation, while Peter's eyes bulged as he made a muffled coughing sound from almost choking on his food.

Katie eyed James warily. "And by 'absolutely amazing' do you really mean ridiculously insane and incredibly likely to get you sentenced to boatloads of detentions?"

"Both?" James offered with a tepid smile.

"After you specifically told me you were going to try to _avoid_ getting boatloads of detentions?"

"Right…and I absolutely am going to _try_ to do that. I'm not sure how possible it will be this time–"

James was interrupted by Katie's laugh.

"You're not angry?" James asked in disbelief.

"_Angry_?" she asked, incredulous. "Merlin, James! I always expected I'd lose you to some detentions. It's kind of your thing…"

Relief washed over James like a wave. "And here I thought entertainment was my thing…"

"Whatever helps you sleep at night," Katie said, rolling her eyes.

"You know what else is brilliant?" James asked loudly, several surrounding groups turning to look at him. "My girlfriend, Katie Wallenby!"

Katie blushed. She felt James lean in and plant a kiss on the side of her face.

"You really are brilliant," he whispered in her ear.

"And you _so_ owe me," Katie whispered back.

When Professor McGonagall sentenced all four boys to two hours of detention a night for first three weeks of the following term, James Potter found out just how much extra time he would owe his girlfriend.

**A/N: This chapter will mark the beginning of some much sought after and too-long delayed development of Lily, as well as Lily and Lionel. I had also initially planned this chapter to feature the holiday prank actually taking place (I had even named it accordingly), but since the Marauders have felt underdeveloped to me for quite some time, I thought it might be wisest to explore their personalities as well as where they are right now. To that end, I cut that portion and had the prank be explained in the context of their planning it. I ended up happy with how it came out because it also ended up providing an opportunity for James to continue growing up while still pulling pranks (which I don't think ever realistically leaves his character). As always your reads are very much appreciated and I hope you are continuing to enjoy the story!**


	16. Family Fireworks

Finally home for the holidays, Lily Evans was greeted warmly by her parents, Catherine and John. Though it had become predictable by now, Lily was still disappointed that Petunia didn't bother to come down or even offer a greeting through her closed bedroom door. As she emptied her belongings into her own room, the young witch sighed deeply. The term at Hogwarts had not ended exactly as she had wanted. Exams were fine, as always, but she had not had much contact at all with Lionel outside the classroom. As a prefect, she had also been pressed into service to help handle the aftermath of the Marauders' latest escapade. Truth be told, this time she was at least impressed with the magic and even the holiday spirit behind their efforts, but the explosive affair still left her irritated. It was as if they had no regard for those who would have to pick up the pieces.

Having finished unpacking her essentials, Lily flopped down on her own bed. She was not particularly looking forward to another holiday at home. This year she would be without any escape in the form of visits with Severus and while her parents were as loving as always, it was impossible to avoid the tension between her and her sister.

Before her mind could wander too far down that trail, Lily heard Petunia's door burst open and her sister run down the stairs giggling. Leaning up to peer outside, Lily noticed a chubby young man approaching the house. She moaned. Petunia was still seeing him. As far as Lily was concerned, her sister's boyfriend Vernon Dursley was a miserable, self-important git. In many ways he was even worse than James Potter. Where Potter could at least rest his arrogance on a not-inconsiderable array of talents, Vernon's was entirely unjustified. The boy's only path forward as far as she could tell would be riding his father's coattails at their family's company. Lily's mood darkened further when she heard her parents calling her to come downstairs. It was her first night home and already she was being burdened with an entirely unwanted social occasion. Dragging herself off the top of her soft comforter, Lily smoothed her skirt, opened her bedroom door and trudged downward, plastering a smile on her face.

* * *

At the Black residence, Sirius was faring far worse. Word of his antics and their anti-Slytherin element had quickly reached home and he was currently locked in his father's study, days before Christmas being berated for all at Grimmauld Place to hear.

"I am _finished_ with these children's games!" his father, Orion bellowed. "First you disgrace our family name by being sorted into that cesspool, sharing the same House with mudbloods – the first Black not in Slytherin in _generations_ – and then you fall in with that pack of ne'er-do-wells! Inhibiting your place in our society with a disciplinary record as long as some of the bottom-feeders in Azkaban!"

"Tell me father, what is my place in our society?" Sirius answered sarcastically.

"Don't take an attitude with me boy or you'll find yourself–"

"Suppose you'd be happy if I cast a few more dark curses? Acted the perfect little pureblood like Bellatrix and Narcissa?"

"How dare you interrupt me, you insolent brat!" Orion roared, rounding his desk.

Sirius braced for what he knew was coming. Sure enough, moments later the sixteen year-old tasted blood as his father's closed fist smashed into his jaw. He fell to the floor, reeling in pain. He cried out as his father kicked him hard in the ribs. Sirius winced as he drew in another breath, springing away and drawing his wand.

Orion Black's wand was already waiting. An evil smirk crossed his face. "You've finally done it," he growled. "Didn't think you had the spine boy. Drawing your wand on me in my own home."

"You're not fit to carry a wand," Sirius spat.

His father exploded, unleashing a torrent of curses at his son. Sirius, being an accomplished duelist for his age was able to parry some of the attacks, but others grazed him, producing cuts or burns. Finally, given his growing injuries, Sirius was worn down. As his wand dropped, his father blasted him into the wall with a stunning spell. Orion Black glowered down over his son. Sirius saw no regret, no sadness in his dark eyes. No, he realized as he groaned in pain, his father's eyes were alight only with contempt and the glint of triumph.

"I've carried your ungrateful, worthless arse through life for long enough, you little worm," Orion sneered. "Get _out_ of my house!" he roared, grabbing Sirius by the collar and tossing him from the study. "Take that filth from your room with you! If you're not gone in five minutes, you'll get worse than this!"

Sirius hauled himself off the floor quickly and hobbled upstairs to his bedroom as he heard his father join his mother and brother in the kitchen for dinner. He was lucky really not to have unpacked – his trunk and belongings, aside from his room's few decorations and his broomstick were hidden in his worn out leather satchel by an undetectable extension charm. For a moment he considered undoing the sticking charms he had cast on his Gryffindor decorations and taking them with him, but thinking it would infuriate his father further, he smiled bitterly as he reinforced them. With a minute to spare, Sirius slammed the front door of his childhood home behind him and headed for the nearest stop he knew for the Knight Bus. He would _never_ come back to this place he resolved. Now, there was only one place he thought might have him.

* * *

Lily sat politely next to her sister at dinner. Petunia had certainly pulled out all the stops tonight. She had cooked the meal herself and was dressed sweetly in a light sundress that belied the season. She was wearing jewelry from head to wrist and her hair was tied back with a large ribbon. Inside, Lily was disgusted. It was almost impossible to believe her parents could stand for this – their own daughter so openly auditioning to for the role of housewife to this pretentious, slug of a man. Sometimes they were loving and permissive to a fault.

"So Lily," Vernon ventured, "how go your studies? Petunia tells me you aspire to be a secretary."

Lily shot daggers at her sister. A _secretary_? For the sake of her family she quickly composed herself. "Wonderful, thank you for asking. I just hope I can learn to cook as well as Petunia one day," she said, forcing her words to drip with sweetness. "Then if I'm lucky I might not have to work after all."

"Ahh!" Vernon smiled. "Quite right, quite right. I'm sure Petunia doesn't mind me complimenting her sister, but you _are_ quite fetching yourself. It's nice to see someone who thinks as clearly about her role as you do these days. I've always shared my father's view that while work is all well and good, a woman's place is in the home."

"Well," the girls' mother started, "I just want my two precious daughters to be happy." She touched Lily gently, supporting her with a knowing glance. "I enjoyed staying home to raise them, though I can understand that some don't see themselves dedicating all their talents to that."

"Certainly, certainly," Vernon said diplomatically.

Having quickly finished the last of her food, Lily thought it best to make a hasty exit before her temper got the best of her. "May I be excused?" she asked nicely, turning to her parents.

"Whatever for, dear?" her father asked. "We were just about to head to the living room."

"I just have a letter that I absolutely must write tonight," Lily persisted.

"Ooh…are you writing to a _boy_?" Petunia asked, seeming for the first time that night to be genuinely interested in something her sister had said.

"No," Lily said flatly. "Just Marlene and Alana, but I did _promise_ I'd write as soon as I got home. You know Alana's family is going to Alps this holiday and if I don't get my letter to them soon, she might not receive it at all," she lied.

Scrutinizing his daughter for a moment, John Evans raised his head and waved permission. "Very well then. I suppose we'll be able to entertain ourselves for a while. Go on."

It had taken all Lily's remaining restraint not to sprint upstairs to get away from them. Her sister and her boyfriend were both fortunate she had not slapped them across the face. "A bloody secretary," she huffed to herself. "A woman's place is in the home. Place I'd like to be is turning him into the toad he is," she grumbled darkly.

As she entered her room, she was surprised to hear a faint tapping on her window. A proud dark-colored owl she didn't recognize was waiting with what appeared to be both a message and a small package tied to its leg. Gently, Lily removed both and fed the bird some bread crumbs out of a bag in her desk. Across the room, her own owl, Frederick hooted in dissent. "Quiet," Lily shushed him. "You'll get yours when I've got something for you to deliver."

Setting the small box aside for the moment, Lily opened the roll of parchment that accompanied it.

_Lily,_

_First, I want to apologize for not being able to spend more time with you after our wonderful trip to Hogsmeade. As you've probably figured out well enough from Potions, I'm not quite the student you are, so I spent most of my time holed up in the library studying. I'm kicking myself for not asking you to at least have a meal or two with me before the end of term, but the moment never felt right and I wasn't sure how you'd react after I neglected you. I do hope you're not sore at me for that._

_Still, I'd kick myself even worse if I didn't reach out to you now. I've been thinking about you a lot the last couple of weeks and virtually the whole ride back on the Express. I know it's the holidays and I'm probably interrupting precious time spent with your family, but I wanted to know if, when we get back, you'd consider seeing me again. I realize I've gone about it all wrong, but maybe we could take some meals together and if all goes well, visit Hogsmeade together again that last weekend of January?_

_Whatever you decide, keep the gift I've sent along with this letter. I got it for you at Tomes and Scrolls when you got absorbed in that book about magical artifacts. I hope you like it._

_Have a happy Christmas Lily. I hope to hear from you soon._

_ Lionel_

Turning immediately to the simply wrapped box, Lily tore it open to find something silver that resembled a smaller version of a Muggle money clip. Both sides had a simple pattern in the metal and ended with a rounded point. Puzzled, Lily noticed more of Lionel's writing scrawled on the underside of the box's lid.

_It's a bookmark. I noticed from your necklace you seem to prefer silver._

An interesting object for a Tomes and Scrolls to be selling she thought. It didn't appear to have any magical properties at all, though Lily was fond of the pointed end, which she realized could mark the exact line where she had left off when she slipped it over the page. Grabbing the nearest book, she decided to try it. To her surprise, it the bookmark did not merely mark the line where she had left off, but a charm actually illuminated and magnified it. Convenient for her one of her favorite times to read too! With that handy charm she could read in bed easily, even in the dark. Lily smiled at Lionel's thoughtfulness and setting her gift aside, grabbed a quill and some parchment of her own.

_Lionel,_

_Thank you so much for the bookmark. I'm not proud to admit I did have to read your note inside the box, but it is wonderful. I see you must have also guessed I like to read in bed. This will help make Marlene and Alana happy too as I can do so in the dark now!_

_As for next term, you were quite neglectful over the lead-up to the holidays, but I suppose I can find it in my heart to give you one final chance (kidding). I really enjoyed our time in Hogsmeade too and I'd love to spend more time, at meals or otherwise, getting to know you better and of course accompanying you to Hogsmeade again._

_Hope you and your family have a happy Christmas as well._

_ Lily_

Finishing her signature with a flourish, Lily rolled the parchment and re-used Lionel's ribbon to tie it tight around Frederick's ankle. Giving him some of the bread crumbs he had been demanding earlier, she opened her window and set him off into the night to deliver her reply.

* * *

Back at the Potter estate in Stroud, James was sullenly pacing in his room. His parents, thrilled to have their only child home again, had flatly insisted that he remain in their company the entire evening. Now it was far too late to owl Katie, which meant they probably wouldn't be able to meet until Christmas Eve at the earliest, perhaps until after the holiday, depending on her family's tradition. Even more bothersome was that given his conversation earlier in the year with his father about Lily Evans, he was reluctant to admit that he was writing let alone seeing another girl right off the bat. While he appreciated his father's words of advice, none more so than the advice he had gotten at the beginning of the school year, he did not want to start his holiday with more. At best he would be second-guessed or needled by him and then subjected to the inevitable hen-pecking by his mother, seeking every detail about the new girl in her son's life.

James's pacing ended abruptly when he heard a pounding on the front door downstairs. Bolting down the staircase to ensure he reached it before Tinka, James was shocked to see his best friend standing on the doorstep. He flung it open immediately and embraced him with a hug.

Sirius flinched and groaned in pain. " 'ello Prongs," he grunted.

This prompted James to take a closer look at his friend. Sirius was carrying only his satchel and his broomstick like usual. However, James could immediately see that his clothes were tattered in places and burned in others. Drawing Sirius inside where there was more light, he saw blood stains around some of the affected areas and a large bruise on his friend's face. "Bloody hell!" he gasped. "What happened?"

Sirius dropped his belongings by the door and eased it shut. "My father…not a terribly long story…starts with another blood-traitor browbeating and ends like this," he said dully, gesturing to his entire body.

"Your…your Dad did this to you?" James asked, incredulous.

"Yeah, well…he's really something. Not the first time," Sirius answered bitterly.

"But why didn't–"

"Figured I could handle it…anyway, he finally kicked me out this time, so…"

"Bloody hell!" James repeated, taking in Sirius's injuries again. "Let me get Mum and Dad. You're staying here."

As Sirius began to wait in the foyer, James beckoned him forward.

"Come on, come on," he insisted. "Leave your stuff. Tinka can see to it. I'll take you to Mum first so she can fix you up. We've got plenty of food in the kitchen too."

"You really think your parents will let me stay?" asked Sirius, concern covering his face as James had never seen before.

"Absolutely," James reassured him. "We'll take you in, mate. Don't you worry about that."

* * *

Across town, on the outskirts of Cotswold Edge, Katie Wallenby had just finished unpacking her school trunk. Her mother and father were waiting for her in the kitchen with a freshly brewed pot of tea. Katie could smell the batch of homemade pumpkin pasties cooking in their small oven. Despite the cold weather outside, Katie cracked her window allowing the smell of winter on the countryside to surge into her nostrils. Hogwarts was beautiful too and she loved it. But this was home. Quickly chilled by a sudden gust of wind, she shut and latched the window once more. Looking around at her simple bedroom, Katie inhaled deeply. She had been avoiding an extended conversation with her mother all day, in hopes that she might put off her biggest news of the term until both her parents were home and in better spirits. Opening the door, she released the breath she had been holding through her mouth and approached the table.

"Well! Our wonderful daughter _finally_ emerges," Mary Wallenby said exasperatedly. "Did you know Roger, that I've been trying to get this girl of ours to talk to me about more than classes and Quidditch all day long and I haven't managed it?"

"Katie!" gasped her father, feigning shock. "I wouldn't want your poor mother to have to endure such treatment again. Sit down and join us! What's really new?"

"Not much," she began, looking down at the table. "I really don't know what Mum is going on about. We've talked plenty, it's just been all the usual things."

"Katherine Elizabeth Wallenby! I can tell when my daughter is holding back from me! You've been slinking around here all day, trying to stay busy with this or that, being oddly more helpful than normal–"

"Ahh! The signs of a secret if I've ever heard them," her dad ribbed.

Katie again looked away, this time at the oven, hoping to be spared by the arrival of the pasties. Katie sighed. She supposed there was no reason in waiting. "Well…I suppose there is one thing I didn't share–"

"I knew it!" her mother exclaimed gleefully. "You see, Roger? I know these things about my daughter…"

"I've never doubted you darling," Katie's father replied, raising his hands in surrender. "What is it then? Don't hold us in suspense."

Looking her parents in the eye in turn from across the table, Katie released the news she had been holding in since she returned that afternoon. "I've started seeing someone."

"Oh! Now that's wonderful sweetheart! Why would you hide that?" her mother asked, gently swatting Katie's arm.

"You know perfectly well, Mary!" Katie's father shouted. "Katie, we had this conversation when your grades started slipping last year. You need to be focusing on school."

"I _am_ focusing on school," Katie defended.

"Obviously not if you're spending your hours with this boy–"

"Oh darling, who is it?" interrupted her mother.

Katie smiled brightly. "It's James Potter. You know from across–"

"Of course we know about him," her father broke in. "All the parents do, especially those of us with girls to protect. He's a wolf! And a walking detention on top of it!"

"He is _not_ a wolf! He treats me very nicely! Giving me flowers…teaching me to fly better…taking me to Hogsmeade…"

"Regardless. We agreed Katie."

"We agreed I'd focus on school! Which I did! I got all the marks I needed on my O.W.L.s last year. And I'm still doing just the same as before."

"It's not a good idea. Absolutely not. I forbid it."

"What?!" Katie exploded.

"Now, Roger…dear…be reasonable…" her mother prompted.

"I am being perfectly reasonable. These are N.E.W.T.-level classes now, not just basics…"

"This is _so_ absurd! I'm studying more this year than ever before, even with seeing James!"

"I think I've made my feelings about this clear now," her father warned.

"You're being completely unfair!" Katie yelled. "James wouldn't let me muck up my classes. He's practically top of our class, even being Quidditch Captain!" She crossed her arms, fuming.

"Roger…let's consider this," her mother implored once more. "Now it's just not right to force her to stop seeing the boy. We've got no idea…not firsthand–"

Roger Wallenby let loose a loud harrumph. "I don't like this, Katie. I don't like this boy's reputation. I don't like the idea he might hurt your studies." He paused, having been elbowed by his wife. "Still…I suppose you are a bit older now…when do you get your results from last term?"

"Not until after the new year!"

"And I suppose you want to see this boy before then?"

"Of course! It's the holidays! We've not gotten to spend a lot of time together recently what with classes finishing up and examinations. And he lives right across town…"

"Fine," he relented.

Katie loosened her crossed arms and let a bit of her frown ebb away.

"But I don't want you seeing him until _after_ Christmas. Do you have assignments for next term?"

"Some…I mean, a good bit of reading…McGonagall set us a short essay."

"Then I want to see you working on it. And I want your mother looking over it before you make any plans. We'll talk about next term after your results arrive."

Across the table, Katie still smoldered. She couldn't believe her father. She had slipped up once. Once, over a year ago and gotten a note sent home about her performance in Potions and he still couldn't forget it. It wasn't even because of dating! She had broken up with that lazy git a month before and had been spending time helping Marlene through a nasty breakup. Katie especially resented her father's implication that if her marks didn't satisfy him, he would try to stop her seeing James. Still, she realized this offer was probably better than the alternative. Her father could be incredibly stubborn, which would almost certainly mean not seeing her boyfriend at all, at the very least until her results arrived. By then it would be almost time for the start of next term.

"Fine," Katie groused, pushing herself back from the table to go owl James the news. Across the room, the signal came that the pasties had finished.

**A/N: I case you thought I was going to blaze through the holidays…not so. Despite it being a relatively short period, I am planning on having at least one, perhaps two more chapters to deal with this period that will set up some important aspects of the story for later. The return to school will probably prove to be the inflection point in terms of the relationship focuses, with the focus shifting from James/Katie to Lily/Lionel. Though the Marauders, Snape, and some tidbits of James/Katie and James and Lily's POVs on one another will be interspersed throughout the second half of the year, things should move comparatively quickly after the return to school, at least until we arrive at the next major shift in the story. No promises it will actually pan out that way, but that is the vision right now. Thanks for reading!**


	17. Winter's Chill

The early morning of December 27th was a cold and blustery one in the town of Abingdon-on-Thames. Heavy cloud cover obscured the moon and stars and the downtown streetlamps seemed to glow more timidly than usual against the pitch black of night. Snow was falling heavily, making any kind of travel perilous.

Despite the conditions, three hooded figures wearing black cloaks strode confidently out from behind a tall hedgerow and onto a quiet residential street. The trio moved carefully down the right side of the street, their footfalls muffled by the few inches of white powder that had already accumulated overnight. As they approached the end of the street, they paused in front of a small brick home. The dwelling was in good repair and its yard was surrounded by a perfectly-painted white picket fence. A holiday wreath graced the front door, its bright red ribbon a striking contrast to the black of the door on which it hung.

"This the place?" one of the figures whispered gruffly.

"Has to be," a second replied.

"Exactly as he described it…" the third, a female voice, said in wonder. "Hard to believe he's never set foot here."

"Pried it from a memory," the second speaker, a trim wizard in his thirties, chuckled.

"Quiet!" the first hissed. "Time to move."

Their brief conference ended, the trio advanced, pausing only to gently open the small gate separating the yard from the sidewalk. The original speaker, a middle-aged wizard with a beard as black as the night itself, moved to slip along the side of the house, indicating to the others to enter through the wreathed door out front. The tall, spindly witch was the first to draw her wand, quietly casting the unlocking charm to gain access to the residence. Carefully she and her companion entered the house as the other wizard made his way around to locate the back door.

Reaching it, the older wizard slipped his own wand from within his robes and unlocked it. While the others had the more pleasurable task this evening, his was the more difficult. He began carefully searching the lower floor of the house for Muggle valuables. It was of vital importance that as many of these as possible go missing. Having worked in the Department of Magical Law Enforcement for the past seventeen years he knew the value in disguising the motive behind what they were about to do. Without Aurors to uncover the magical traces their actions would leave behind, it would be only too easy for foolish Muggles who came upon the scene to draw the wrong conclusion.

Upstairs the witch and wizard scanned the bedrooms. The first belonged to a Muggle child of sixteen who was sleeping soundly in a bed against the wall. The pair cast a sticking charm on the door before shutting it and moving on. Next, they encountered another child's room. The boy sleeping within appeared to be approximately fourteen, but his décor was far different. On his closet door hung a pair of discarded Hogwarts robes, a yellow and black tie had been cast aside on the small desk, laying across a pile of spellbooks. On the wall over his bed a Hufflepuff banner hung proudly. Sneering, the witch and wizard repeated the process from the first bedroom. The mudblood would be too inept in his young age to overcome it. Finally, the pair came upon the home's master bedroom. Staring within they noted a Muggle man and wife sleeping, the woman with her head nestled upon her husband's chest comfortably. Wands drawn, they entered and began their work.

As he moved through the living room, scanning the well-decorated Christmas tree and still-hung stockings, the middle-aged wizard heard the first muffled cry. The woman's. He was irritated. Despite their useless state, Muggle men were generally more dangerous, possessing the brute strength, if they acted quick enough, to disarm a witch or wizard by force. The man should've been slain first. Still he noted, his partners were not without flair. From what he could tell they had awakened the husband. The fool was pathetically pleading for the lives of himself and his children. Cruel laughter came down the stairwell before his life ended in a muffled scream. Footsteps indicated his companions had moved on to deal with the children.

The wizard completed his job downstairs by carefully breaking the lock on the back door of the home so the Muggles sent to investigate might consider it a burglary gone wrong. As he ascended the staircase, he was hopeful. They were toying with the Muggle child as his mudblood brother awakened, trying desperately to make his way past his own stuck door. Sadly, he reached the top of the stairs just too late to see the brothers' lives ended. Encountering the scene, he raised an eyebrow. The fallen Hufflepuff had blasted his door from its hinges. Still, it had done nothing but bring him more quickly to his own end. His eyes vacant, his body now lay slashed open in the hall, blood staining the wall and carpet.

"The others are similar?" he asked simply.

"As you said," the witch replied. "To look like Muggle weapons."

"Shall we cast the Mark?" asked the third.

"Of course not you fool!" the man exclaimed. "The Aurors will come for this one, yes. But the movement is still growing. We cannot give away our involvement in all these incidents. It tells the enemy too much about our numbers. Besides, unfriendly wizards have killed Muggles and their spawn for simpler reasons throughout our time…"

Motioning to the stairway, he led his companions out the front door and into the cold night. The neighboring houses remained dark and the air remained silent. All was well. With a series of soft pops, they disapparated.

**A/N: Very short here and with a purpose. I felt it was time to address the growing darkness in the world outside Hogwarts. To ignore that, seems to me to ignore something important about not just the time the characters were living in, but also values and positions that become very important to their development. While it will not immediately become a focus of the story, it will continue to be addressed throughout and will grow in importance to the plot over time. I also decided to make at least the first foray into this area be through the eyes of the perpetrators so we could see the depth of their callous disregard for lives they see as worthless firsthand. Next chapter will be brighter.**


	18. New Year's Eve

Lily Evans gazed upward at the stars glittering over the Irish Sea. The moon was still low in the sky, but the air was bitterly cold and Lily rubbed her gloved hands together quickly before lowering her scarf briefly to breath hot air into them. The family had made its annual pilgrimage from their home in Cokeworth to Blackpool's Central Pier to take part in the festivities surrounding the arrival of another new year. It would be 1977 in several hours. Then just shy of a month later, she would be seventeen. While their parents were intent on forcing familial interaction, Lily could not help but reflect sadly on how much had changed over the years. Despite only being four, she could fondly remember the year the family started the tradition. Her father had somehow managed to balance both she and Petunia on her shoulders. The girls had been giggling non-stop, enjoying the happy atmosphere. Now, such shared happiness seemed impossible to imagine. Petunia only came home from typing school in London for Christmas and New Year's and the bitterness and tension that had festered between them for so long only seemed to have deepened. Right now, the older girl was walking about pouting that her parents had not allowed her to bring her precious slug of a boyfriend on _their_ trip.

Suddenly, Lily felt a tap on her right shoulder. Spinning around, she saw the closely-cropped brown hair and chiseled jaw of Lionel Baird.

"Hi, Lily!" Lionel exclaimed. "Didn't think I'd be seeing you until school started again!"

"Neither did I!" Lily answered happily, quickly embracing her handsome housemate in a hug.

"Who's this then?" her father asked, intrigued by the arrival of the male intruder.

Lionel gave Lily a sheepish grin.

"This is Lionel Baird," she offered. "The one I told you took me to Hogsmeade and sent the nifty bookmark."

Lily could hear Petunia huff in the background.

"Pleased to meet you," the elder Evans said, extending his hand toward Lionel for a handshake. "I'm John Evans and these two lovely ladies are my wife Catherine and my older daughter, Petunia."

"Pleased to meet you," Lionel responded quietly.

"Well, I'm sure the two of you would like to catch up, but before I let her go, I'd like to have a word with my daughter for a moment."

"Absolutely, sir. I can just wait over here, alright Lily?"

Lily nodded before accompanying her father to where the rest of the family was standing several paces away.

"This is supposed to be family time, Lily," her father began warningly. "I've already told your sister she couldn't–"

"Dad!" Lily interrupted. "You know I wouldn't do that. I honestly had no idea he'd be here. He doesn't even live in this part of the country."

"She still shouldn't be able to spend time with him!" Petunia protested. "If I can't see Vernon, why should Lily get to see _her_ boyfriend?"

"He's not my boyfriend. We've only been on the one date…"

"Right, That's why he sent you a Christmas present," Petunia snarked.

"Honestly! I mean, we _are_ supposed to see each other again once school starts back up, but–"

"I knew it! I think Lily should have to stay with us, Daddy."

"Well, this is a bit different from your situation. It's not as if this boy knew what he was walking into. Right, Lily?" John Evans finished, fixing his younger daughter with a stare.

"Absolutely!" Lily said.

"Well…I suppose it wouldn't hurt if you spent a bit of time with him…"

Lily beamed.

"Only enough to catch up though!" her father insisted. "I don't want you wandering off from this area with the games and vendors. Half an hour!"

Petunia groaned loudly. "This is _so_ unfair, Daddy! Every time! I have to put up with all these restrictions and Lily just gets to do whatever she wants."

"Don't be cross, dear," their mother soothed. "You and I can do a little shopping at the vendors. I'll let you pick something nice out. I've seen some wonderful clothes and jewelry…perhaps there's something Vernon might like to see you in…" she trailed off, sharing a look with her husband.

"Really?!" Petunia said excitedly. "I can pick something out?!"

"Certainly dear. Of course there are limits…"

"Let's go!" Petunia shouted, dragging her mother toward the shopping area while turning her head to glare daggers at her sister.

"I'd best go keep watch," her father noted. "Here. Half an hour."

"Half an hour," Lily repeated.

With that settled, Lily hurried over to where Lionel was waiting. "I've only got half an hour I'm afraid," she said with a half-smile.

"That's okay," Lionel replied, failing to fully hide his disappointment. "At least I get to see you. It's a great surprise!"

"Too sweet," Lily smiled, locking arms with him.

A few minutes later, the pair were queued up in front of one of the game booths. Fortunately for them, it seemed that both the still early hour and the cold had conspired to reduce the length of the normally massive lines. Lily was pleased that Lionel had led her there. While she enjoyed her time with him in Hogsmeade, her one concern was how hesitant he seemed. As he led them forward into the next stage of the queue, she took a moment to admire his strong physique. Though she already knew it, she noted again that Alana had been right. Lionel _was_ one of Hogwarts' most attractive wizards. Perhaps standing in the queue would keep them closer together and remove some of his hesitance…

"Something on your mind?" Lionel asked.

"Nothing important," Lily replied hurriedly, trying to brush off being caught in her own head.

Lionel didn't press the issue. "So, have you ever played these before?"

"Goodness. So many times. I never win though," Lily replied. "You?"

"No, actually. Living in London my parents were always very careful about letting me go out much. The nanny they got for me when things took off for them had a distrust of all things Muggle."

Lily laughed. "So what are we doing here then?"

"I thought you might enjoy them…"

"Right…" Lily paused. "They're fun enough. It's just that…well, they're something of a racket to suck in lads like you to win prizes for ladies like me."

"Merlin…"

"Don't think you can manage?" Lily teased.

Lionel turned serious. "Sure I can," he answered, appearing to puff out his chest a bit.

"About to find out I suppose…" she trailed off, gesturing toward the open ball toss game ahead.

"Pound per play," the man operating the game said gruffly, sticking out a rough hand. Receiving his payment, he produced three wooden balls from under the low counter. "You know how to play right?"

Lionel shifted from foot to foot awkwardly.

"Believe it or not he's never played a festival game," Lily volunteered.

"Blimey!" the man exclaimed. "Been living under a rock have you? Well, it's simple enough. See the blocks?" he continued, pointing down at a pyramid of large milk jugs stacked at the other end of the booth. "Three balls means you got three chances to knock 'em all down. Pull it off and you get a small prize or go double-or-nothing for a big one."

Taking the balls from the man, Lionel weighed them in his hand before taking aim. His first effort sailed wide left, almost hitting the stacker. His second managed to knock down the top two rows.

"Last chance…" said Lily hopefully.

Lionel let loose his third throw, aiming for the middle of the bottom two rows. The ball almost found its mark, but came off a bit left of center, leaving three jugs standing on the right side of the formation.

"Oh! Close!" Lily cried out, shaking a fist in frustration.

"Try again?" the man offered.

"Shall I?" Lionel asked, looking to Lily for guidance.

"Forget it," she responded. "Save your money. You gave it a go…I mean, I'm rubbish at them too…"

Turning to look up at him as they walked away, she noticed Lionel looked a bit hurt.

"Oh...Lionel I didn't mean to say you were rubbish…I mean you were very close. I think you had the right idea…"

"It's alright…I was never much good tossing a Quaffle either…"

"You were fine," Lily insisted, touching his arm gently. "Besides, it was your first time."

"Well we've got a bit of time left. Want to check out the sea?"

"From the pier I hope…"

Lionel laughed. "Well, not exactly boating weather is it?"

"No. Definitely not," Lily said, exaggerating a shiver and snuggling into her companion a bit.

As they made their way over to the edge of the pier, Lionel felt trapped in two emotions. Between their letters and Lily's most recent display it was obvious that she really was interested in dating him. That left him feeling exultant. Still, he wondered what she expected to take things to that point between them. Was a talk required or just a simple question? Did he need to take her out more first? What was she expecting tonight? Should he leave her with a hug? A kiss? His past relationships had all been very brief. Most girls he had dated had moved on when they discovered he wasn't interested in hours of snogging supported by merely a superficial connection. He was obviously far more mature, but surely she had certain expectations. She was, after all, quite sought after herself and had already been in a lengthy relationship before.

"Now who's floated off?" Lily joked, elbowing Lionel in the ribs.

"Sorry," he said, casting his eyes downward.

"Waves aren't lulling you to sleep already are they?"

"No…"

Lily pulled back from him, crossed her arms, and frowned in mock frustration. "Well, I won't have these last several minutes wasted you know…"

"Sorry!" Lionel responded immediately.

Lily laughed again. "Kidding!" she said, chuckling. "Why so tense and thoughtful all of a sudden?"

Lionel looked down again. "I do that sometimes…"

"I've haven't seen it too often."

"It's you I guess," he mumbled.

"What about me?"

"Everything. I mean…tonight…meeting unplanned…and then the whole situation…it's all a bit chaotic at the moment."

Lily was silent for a moment. She felt she had been abundantly clear, but perhaps she had ascribed too high a degree of sophistication to Lionel in this area. She had based it on the fact he had dated a number of girls and her interactions with him. The planning element was rather amusing. A bit like herself.

"Lionel?" she said, turning to face him directly.

"Yes?" he answered, matching Lily's stance so the two stood face to face as the waves crashed gently against the pier.

Suddenly, he found her soft lips pressed boldly, yet tenderly against his own. After a second of shock, he gently returned her kiss before they separated. Lily's face was slightly flushed, her freckles barely peeking through in the light of the moon. Her captivating green eyes were filled with what Lionel took to be a combination of satisfaction and mischief.

"Did that clear things up for you?" she asked cheekily.

"I…err…I think so," he responded.

Lily stood up on her toes once more, planting another kiss on his mouth.

"How about now?"

"Yes…" he offered tentatively.

Scanning the crowd briefly, Lily saw her father, mother, and sister waiting.

"Lionel," she started, "I've really got to run. You'll handle our…_situation_ properly when we get back to school?"

"Definitely," he responded with a smile.

With a nod and a quick wave, Lily departed to meet back up with her family, her auburn hair bouncing along with the newfound spring in her step and a satisfied smile upon her face.

**A/N: Felt it was about time for something exclusively devoted to Lily and Lionel and that such a chapter would bring a happy conclusion the holiday break. Hopefully you feel like you know a little bit more about both characters now as well as a bit of the dynamic that will exist in their relationship. I am hoping this also marks the point where I'll successfully return to my previous, slightly brisker pace in posting new chapters. Thank you as always for reading and reviewing!**


	19. Three Months

On their first night back at Hogwarts, James had reluctantly parted from his girlfriend to meet Sirius for the first of their assigned detentions. Meeting at the edge of the long row of greenhouses on the edge of the castle, they were greeted by Professor Pomona Sprout.

"Good evening, Mr. Potter, Mr. Black," the short woman said curtly.

"Evening Professor. What breed of green terrors shall we help you with tonight?" Sirius asked with a smirk.

"Mr. Black, you are the last student I would trust to do any manner of tending to even the most simple of specimens," she retorted dryly. "I seem to recall your O.W.L.–"

"Yes, yes, too right, Professor," Sirius cut in.

Professor Sprout rolled her eyes at the interruption. "Anyway, the pair of you will be seeing to a necessary, but mundane task. Moving bags of soil from my storage area into each greenhouse."

"I thought we were to work with you all week Professor," James replied. "A bit of magic and I imagine we'd be done in two hours…easily," he boasted.

"Yes well, Mr. Potter, I'm afraid Professor McGonagall was quite insistent that both of you surrender your wands prior to beginning. She mentioned something about Gryffindor needing a bit more strength on the Quidditch pitch…"

"More strength?!" Sirius barked, incredulous.

"Regardless of the accuracy of her opinion, you will be moving the bags by yourselves. Come on. Wands to me and off with the robes," Professor Sprout finished, reaching out her arms toward them.

An hour later, both boys found themselves drenched in sweat and covered in dirt.

"Eighteen kilograms a bag, Prongs!" Sirius exclaimed. "Eighteen! And we've got at least a hundred of the things left!"

"Let's just get on with it, Padfoot," James muttered, hefting another bag into the air and planting it on his shoulders before marching off to the farthest greenhouse from them. Upon his return, he noted that Sirius hadn't moved an inch.

"Come on, James! A break! Merlin knows we deserve one!"

"Fine," James groaned, leaning back against the pile of soil bags he was working on.

"So then…how's things with Wallenby?"

"Excellent. Holidays went well. She got me a brilliant book on Quidditch. It's called _Terrorizing with Tactics_. It'll be super once we start practicing again."

Sirius glanced away. "Sounds good, Prongs."

"You're doubting me."

"Just concerned."

"Well you've got nothing to be concerned with," James snapped.

"And that's where we disagree, mate. We're coming right up on three months–"

"And you think I'll muck it up."

"You do always seem to find a way out…"

"Sod off, Padfoot."

"Right then. Just checking. I know how you get when these things take a turn."

"How's that?"

"Publicly moronic and privately morose. Makes you a real hell to be around."

James whacked Sirius on the back of the head. "It's not going that way this time," he said firmly. "Now let's get on with it before Sprout catches us you lazy git."

* * *

While her boyfriend suffered through his detention, Katie Wallenby was spending her evening in the common room trying to stay ahead of her Charms work. While her father had wound up extremely pleased with her mid-year marks, he had still yet to shy away from his threats of meddling in her relationship. Directing her wand at the middle circle in front of her, she uttered the incantation to change it from yellow to red. Nothing happened to the other circles.

"Practicing the Protean Charm?" a bright voice interrupted.

"Yeah…I seem to be failing miserably though," Katie sighed.

"You know…I have the hang of it. I could help you if you want…" Lily Evans offered, taking a seat in one of the armchairs across the table.

Katie remained quiet for a moment.

"It's okay to need help you know," the redhead ventured, leaning forward to look her housemate in the eyes.

"I hate it," Katie said bitterly. "I don't know. I've just never been much good with Charms. Or Defense."

"Well…much as _I_ hate to admit it," Lily started, "you could always ask James. Whatever else he gets up to he's always pressing me at the top of the class. A bit more even this year actually," she finished, cocking her head to the side and biting her lip.

Katie groaned. "James is the last one I need…"

"Oh…I'm sorry…I just assumed, given–"

"No, it's fine. I just want to learn it myself. I don't want to have James solving all my problems."

"I can understand that. I like to do it all on my own too…most of the time. Still, are you sure you don't want me to give you some tips?" Lily asked.

Katie's took a deep breath as she let her tired shoulders droop. "I suppose time is running short," she answered glumly. "I'd appreciate it."

* * *

Two hours later, Lily and Katie hugged after the latter had successfully completed the exercise three times in a row.

"Thank you _so_ much!" Katie gushed. "I can't believe it really all came down to those tiny details. That's why I'm always having issues when things don't come naturally. I never see that stuff."

"It's hard to see it in yourself. I get so focused sometimes too," Lily admitted.

At that moment, James and Sirius walked in through the portrait hole, covered almost from head to toe in dirt. The girls immediately burst into laughter.

"Oi!" Sirius shouted. "Think it's funny do you? I'll barely be able to lift a bat at practice tomorrow!"

"A real tragedy," Lily said sarcastically before making for the stairs. "I'll leave that to you, Katie. Have a good night!"

"Thanks…" the brown-haired girl replied with equal enthusiasm. "But honestly, thanks for your help tonight!"

"Any time," Lily said, waving as she ascended the staircase.

"I've had it for tonight," Sirius grumbled. "And we've got to do it all week! McGonagall's gone mad! Absolutely mad!"

As Sirius exited the common room, Katie quickly found herself alone with James.

"Laughing at my suffering are you?" he asked.

Katie gave her boyfriend a full once over. "Well, you are a right mess. Couldn't even be troubled to clean yourself up for me?" she asked, raising her wand to performing a cleansing spell.

Before she could, James surprised her with an enormous hug and a hard kiss on the mouth.

"Couldn't let you miss out. After all, I learned this holiday how much more you like me after a bit of manual labor…" he smirked, placing his dirt-covered hands on both sides of her face and pulling Katie into what quickly became a series of kisses.

"Hey!" she shouted, pulling away in mock protest. "Just because we had a delightful snogging session after you helped my mum with the planting–"

"You look stunning with dirt on your cheeks," James interrupted.

Katie smiled brightly, the light from the fireplace dancing across her freckles and illuminating some of the varied hues in her pale blue eyes. "Thank you, James."

James straightened himself up in front of her. "Go on and set me straight," he said, shutting his eyes.

Rolling hers, Katie cast a cleansing charm on James and then herself.

"So what were you and Evans up to?"

"Oh…she was just helping me with our assignment for Charms."

"Well you know I would've helped you," James insisted.

"I do," Katie replied, looking down and slightly to the side. "It's just…I think it was better she helped me. Sometimes around you I feel…pressure."

"Pressure?"

"Sure. I mean…to keep up with you. I get nervous sometimes about doing that."

"But why?"

"I don't know. I guess I just want to keep impressing you…"

"You don't have to impress me, Katie," James said bluntly.

"And I do know that. It's just…sometimes I let my mind wander and I get nervous."

"Oh. Right," James said coolly.

"James–"

"Don't. Just don't say it, Katie. You and Sirius, both in one night…" he grumbled, his face flashing with irritation.

"Don't you get cross with me," Katie shot back, her temper rising. "I'm just being honest with you."

"Yeah, well, The last thing I need is you joining everybody else watching the clock," James said hotly, his voice rising.

"It's not just about _you_!" Katie shouted. "I believe you're different. But sometimes _I'm_ weak and when I am, your past scares me. The last thing _I_ need is you getting upset with me when I admit I have negative feelings sometimes."

As he watched Katie cross her arms and look away, James softened.

"Hey," he said tentatively, reaching toward her.

She remained silent.

"Hey," he repeated. "Don't stop talking to me."

Katie turned back toward him, her arms still crossed. "Are you going to bark at me?"

"I'm not," he said solemnly. "I'm sorry…it's just detention turned out to be a nightmare and Sirius had to go and bring it up…" James trailed off as he saw his girlfriend's hands move to her hips, a put out expression beginning to cross her face.

"Well, I accept your apology," Katie started. "I don't want to row. I just…I know we've sort of talked about this before, but it's hard for me. Before we dated, the only way people really knew me was from the Quidditch stands. I was sort of under the radar. It's been an adjustment for me."

"And I want you to talk to me about all that. Like last time. We talked and it was better."

"That was different. Those were mean things people said. They weren't my own feelings. I need to be able to talk to you about how I'm feeling."

"And you can," James insisted.

"I need to be able to do it without you getting bent out of shape or making it about you."

James looked away.

"And you need to talk to me about how _you're_ feeling," she said firmly, turning his chin so their eyes met once more. "It was one thing I appreciated a lot when you listened to me before. You opened up a little. Shared something important with me. Like the violin. You don't do that a lot. I want more of it."

"Sounds like I have plenty to keep me occupied for _well_ over three months…" James offered.

Katie reached out and smacked him as one corner of her mouth crept into a smile. "Very clever. I can think of some other things too…" she teased.

James leaned forward to give her another kiss, but found his lips met her index finger instead.

"Not tonight," she said. "Maybe after practice tomorrow if you behave yourself."

James pouted, while Katie laughed.

"I guess this is good night then," he started. "Forgive me for being a prat?"

"This time," she giggled, adding a little extra sway to her hips as she walked away towards her dormitory.

**A/N: I figured it was about time for the honeymoon to wear off a bit and give James and Katie their first fight. Admittedly it's fairly short-lived, but it raises some issues which will be important for the future of their relationship. While I wrote the chapter with that in mind, it also proved to be an opportunity to provide a little more detail on James's past and Katie's character. Next up should be some long-awaited James and Lily interaction, which will build throughout the second half of sixth year.**


	20. An Unexpected Partnership

The next day, Lily Evans and Marlene McKinnon filed into the N.E.W.T.-level Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom buoyed by the knowledge that it was a dueling day. While all students looked forward to such class periods, the talented pair had been sparring partners since their first year and always relished an opportunity for another intense, if good-natured showdown. Over the years they had disarmed and sent each other flying across the room dozens of times since their first face-off, though by now both had developed enough skill and depth in their repertoires that they mostly canceled each other out. Still, the two witches gabbed gaily as they waited for Professor Osorio to arrive and let them at each other for the day.

The middle-aged wizard arrived shortly, his carefully tailored robes flowing gently behind him as he entered the room. As was always the case with the Defense Against the Dark Arts post, Federico Osorio was new this year, but he had quickly become a favorite of the witches at Hogwarts. Hailing from Italy, his jet black hair and olive complexion made quite the impression on both the girls and budding young women who were so used to seeing the more traditional British fare. Regardless of gender however, all the students seemed to appreciate his heavily practical approach and dramatic flair.

"I am tired of the complacency in this room!" he announced boldly upon reaching the front of the room. "There are some who would prefer I not speak of this, but how many of you have seen the papers?"

The students murmured amongst themselves, almost all raising their hands.

"Good! Then there is no excuse! It has not been so long since Gellert Grindelwald sowed similar evil in mainland Europe. We now know why he did not focus his attentions so heavily on your land, but those of us who bore the brunt of his movement…we do not soon forget."

Lily and Marlene shared a look. Scanning the classroom they could see many of their classmates doing the same, though Potter and his band of brothers seemed for once to be paying rapt attention.

"As you are all aware, today is another dueling day. I am tired of seeing the same spells. The same combinations. The same routines. In the real world, the witch or wizard you fight to the death may not be one you know so well. For this reason, I am re-assigning you–"

As the murmuring reached a fever pitch, the Italian raised his hands to silence them.

"I am re-assigning you," he began again, "to new dueling partners. These new partners _will_ be suited to your level of skill, but they will also be suited to your weaknesses. Allow me to demonstrate! Mr. Potter! Miss Evans! To the front!"

A collective 'ooh' rose up from the crowd as the two approached their Professor.

"The first of these new sparring pairs. I am eager to see Miss Evans how your well-strategized flourishes meet handle Mr. Potter's power and precision. Likewise Mr. Potter, I am interested to see if your invention can be a match for Miss Evans's firm knowledge and peerless preparation. You will be before me today."

Both students nodded, walking to opposite sides of the classroom as they waited for Professor Osorio to pair off their classmates in a similar fashion. After several minutes, the professor took a seat behind his desk at the front and bade his class to begin when ready.

Lily was the first to draw her wand, holding it only slightly in front of her chest, her other arm outstretched before her. She watched carefully as her opponent responded in kind, though he held his wand loosely at his stomach, bending slightly at the knees and waist. When it came time to bow, Lily did so dutifully. Potter on the other hand smiled widely before making a dramatic flourish.

As the duel began, Lily silently cast a shield charm, expecting Potter to strike quickly. For over a minute however, he did nothing. She watched him warily, eyes narrowed, but the most she could detect was the slight swaying of his upper body. The first minute quickly became two, then three as Lily held her shield and Potter's torso continued to move ever so slightly in a subtly circular motion. As she began to lose patience, Lily stopped herself. She realized that Potter was baiting her. For some reason he _wanted_ her to attack him first. Lily thought quickly. For all his personal faults, Potter was a talented wizard. It had been naïve to think he wasn't just as capable of non-verbal magic as she was, despite their ages. He must have detected her shield. Perhaps if she lowered it…

The time had come. The instant Evans dropped her shield, James was on her with a flurry of attacks, casting to disarm twice, followed by a stunning spell. Though she capably parried them, James was pleased to see her forced back a half step. However he was forced to respond quickly to a return onslaught. Casually, he swatted her minor spells away while closing some of the distance between them. Stepping forward again, James blocked two more, before aiming a stunner at her torso and a tripping jinx at her feet.

Lily parried the first with ease, but only noticed the second coming in low at the last moment, narrowly sending it harmlessly into the classroom floor. Potter had been clever closing the distance between them. While it reduced both their reaction times, it also cut her time to take a considered approach to the fight. Without realizing it, she had allowed Potter to force her into a predictable pattern of weak attacks from which he could easily press an advantage. The question was how to escape.

James quickly realized that Evans was onto him when she sent a powerful jet of water his way as her next attack. Sliding aside, he cast another tripping jinx low, which she again deflected. Sending more water his way followed by two stunning spells, she was pressing to equalize their positions again. This was not something James was prepared to allow. Ducking low, he used a shield to direct the spray of the water upward and outward, back in Evans's direction. Cast without precision, the stunning spells flew harmlessly by and James closed the distance further, sending a flurry of attacks in her direction. This was the moment.

Lily barely had time to deflect each attack away and was quickly pressed back toward the classroom wall. Her weight now firmly on her back foot. Desperately she reached for something stronger, sending a swarm of ropes and chains in Potter's direction. She noted the surprise in his eyes. It was her last chance and he'd have little time to deal with them. With two quick slashing motions, Potter dashed her hopes with finely executed severing charms and flicking his wand tip upward twice in a strange motion, she was dumbfounded as he seemed to produce only a simple stunner. In response, Lily cast a simple shield of her own. She was terribly surprised when the seemingly innocuous spell surged straight through and she quickly found herself flying toward the wall.

As he watched Evans fly backward, James's first feeling was one of triumph, but they almost immediately faded into panic as he realized she was going to hit the wall. Aiming his wand at her, he bellowed. "_Aresto momentum_!" It caught her in the nick of time, causing his sparring partner to slide a short distance on her bottom before her back gently touched the wall she had been hurtling toward.

Lily felt her face go red with both embarrassment and anger. Potter had bested her in Defense _again_. And he'd managed to look chivalrous in doing so, saving her from the wall. But more importantly, Potter had cheated. There was no other explanation. He _had_ to have used some impermissible spell to have breached her shield like that. In a moment she was off the ground and in his arrogant, smirking face.

"Potter! What are you playing at?"

"Rescuing you from a wall at the moment," he said casually, ruffling his hair in that way she found so irritating.

"Like hell," she roared, ignoring the crowd of fellow students that was quickly pausing to take in the spectacle. "You used a barred spell!"

"That is a bold accusation, Miss Evans," their professor interrupted.

"And a lie," James spat, his eyes lit with anger. "You're just sore you lost."

"Last time I checked unblockable spells weren't allowed in this classroom!"

"I never cast an unblockable!"

"I had a shield up! Anyone could see it!"

Professor Osorio stood and aimed his wand at the feuding pair in turn before shouting, "_Silencio_!"

The class burst into laughter at the sight of Lily Evans, her face almost as red as her hair, now inaudibly thundering away and gesturing theatrically at James Potter as he spat back silenced retorts, his glasses nearly sliding off as his face contorted in outrage.

"Miss Evans. Mr. Potter. Enough!" the Italian wizard bellowed. "The rest of the class, you are free to go. We will discuss your experiences today in our next lesson."

Their professor's command had served to bring James and Lily out of the heat of their fury, whereupon they quickly noticed that they had been silenced for the last thirty seconds or so. Removing the spell, Professor Osorio gestured toward two chairs he had conjured for them.

"A well won duel, Mr. Potter," he began. "Impressive spellwork, but even more impressive use of space."

"But Professor!" Lily protested. "You saw my shield! He cast–"

"Mr. Potter," Professor Osorio interrupted, "I understand your anger, but you _will_ control it in the future in my classroom. This is not the last time you'll duel Miss Evans and I expect your post-duel conduct to be exemplary in the future, no matter the circumstances. Do I make myself clear?"

"Certainly, sir," James nodded.

"Excellent. Then you are free to go."

"But–" Lily spoke up again.

"Quiet, Miss Evans!"

"Yes, sir," Lily answered meekly.

"You are a talented duelist yourself. I paired you with James Potter because quite frankly, aside from his friend, Mr. Black, I think you're probably the only _student_ that could handle him."

"Well, I appreciate that sir, I–"

"Nevertheless," the professor interrupted, "I am extremely disappointed in your behavior today. You are a House Prefect. A person that your schoolmates look to when judging the conduct of others. And the accusations you made in my classroom were both inaccurate and inappropriate."

"Inaccurate, sir? You know I'm not normally impertinent–"

"Absolutely inaccurate. Tell me, did Mr. Potter's spell look to be a stunning spell to you? Were you able to observe–"

"Well, yes sir. I mean, the wand, the color…it did."

"And did you notice anything…different…that preceded it?"

"Of course I did! He flicked his wand twice upward…that's what made me realize that he must have cast an unblockable."

"Miss Evans," Professor Osorio said, shaking his head. "That was _not_ an unblockable spell."

"Well it was no simple stunner!"

"No. It wasn't."

"Well then how–"

"It was a clever bit of magic. Commonly used by Mr. Potter and Mr. Black. I believe you'll find something on it in the library…"

"The library? But–"

"I'm not going to tell you anything more. You'll have to find it yourself…"

"Why did you tell me at all? I thought you wanted us to be unfamiliar with our dueling partners now."

"I want all of you prepared for the world you'll be facing. But at the same time, I am still partial to a level playing field…" he smiled. "You of course realize you're expected to follow the same instruction I gave Mr. Potter."

"Of course, sir."

"You're free to go Miss Evans."

"Thank you, Professor," Lily said, getting up to leave. As she left the classroom, she came to a terrible realization. She had to apologize to James Potter.

* * *

It had taken her until the middle of Charms to swallow her pride and until an hour after lessons had ended to track him down. Potter, decked out in his Quidditch gear was leaving the castle for the first practice of the new term. He was accompanied by his girlfriend, Katie Wallenby, and a similarly-attired Sirius Black. Could it get any worse for her? Sirius and already heard her outburst in class and had barely been restrained by their mutual friend Remus Lupin, and of course Katie had been there as well. She sighed. There went that budding friendship.

As she exited the castle, Sirius was the first to spot her, promptly elbowing his best friend in the ribs. Potter immediately turned toward him and Lily could see whispers being exchanged as the group stopped. He met her eyes with a firm stare before turning to Katie. "You carry on with Sirius alright? I'll just be a minute."

"Sure," Katie said trudging forward after shooting a warning glance in Lily's direction.

"What do you want, Evans?" he said sharply as soon as the pair were out of earshot.

"Look…about earlier."

"What about it?"

"I just…I think there was a misunderstanding and–"

"Oh there wasn't a misunderstanding. I got your message loud and clear. I'm a cheat. That's the only way _I_ could possibly out-do _you_."

"That's not…I don't think that."

"Pssh!" James scoffed. "You know, Evans? I may be an arrogant prat at times, but at least I don't try to pretend otherwise."

Lily's cheeks burned at his rebuke. "That's fair," she said, looking off into the sunset.

"Excuse me?"

"I said it was a fair thing to say. I do get a little…worked up about my standing at times. Maybe it goes to my head. And of course I'll always agree that you're an arrogant prat."

James smirked. "I said _at times_."

"More like at all times," Lily fired back, laughing lightly despite herself. "Anyway…I guess what I came here to say is that I'm sorry."

"For?"

"For questioning your integrity...as a duelist."

"Always the qualifiers with you, Evans," James said, shaking his head.

Suddenly their conversation was interrupted by shrieks from the pathway toward the Forbidden Forest. Turning their heads they could see first year Gryffindors and Hufflepuffs running frantically back toward the castle, occasionally being struck down by a jinx or a stunning spell. Without a word, the pair took off toward the fray at full sprint.

"What the hell is going on?" James shouted as the spells continued to hit fly at the fleeing first years.

"I've no idea…" Lily answered, producing her wand. "I think they're coming from there," she said, pointing her wand in the direction of the rock wall behind the caretaker's hut.

"And there!" James yelled, pointing at the top of the hill above them.

Following his wand, Lily could see a hooded figure wearing all black, a crude cloth obscuring all but his eyes. "Do you think they're…you know?"

"Course not," James said quickly. "They can't cross the boundaries without permission. And they're not hurting anyone," he finished as he fired a Reductor Curse at the area of the wall Lily had indicated. "There you are," he chuckled as a similarly-clad figure scampered up the hill to join his comrade.

The last of the first years on their way back from Care of Magical Creatures were entering the line of fire now. James leapt in front of a stunner aimed at one, being knocked to the ground hard. Rising, he began launching a flurry of offensive spells in their direction.

Meanwhile, Lily was busy protecting as many as she could with shield charms as they passed, pausing only occasionally to send a stunner or disarming spell toward the hooded figures as a means of giving James some cover from the numerical advantage the mysterious attackers would have otherwise enjoyed.

"We've got to close distance," James urged. "I'm moving in. Get the first years clear and then join me," he yelled as he charged forward, deflecting a rapid series of attacks before firing off a couple of his own.

"You can't go it alone!" Lily protested. "Two to one? Not for a minute!"

"Then I guess you'll have to hurry up and join me," James yelled back, panting from the furious pace at which he was having to deflect a barrage of hexes.

Suddenly, a third figure appeared from behind the hill, firing a different spell in James's direction. The raven-haired wizard did not see this one coming as he fended off the last of the others' most recent onslaught. With his shield down, it struck him squarely in his left flank, tearing his robes and leaving a small bleeding gash in his skin.

"Hell!" James cried out, deflecting more spells before another from the mysterious third party hit him again. "Evans! Could really use a bit of help here…"

"Just a couple more first years…" she yelled back, urging the stragglers up to the castle as quickly as she could.

This time when the barrage came, James elected to save his shield for the late arriving spell, rolling on the ground to dodge the others and deflecting the attack easily. Caught off guard by his new position, the original attackers were unprepared for James's quick response, one being immobilized by a full body bind. Quickly, Lily strode forward along with him, helping to parry the continued attacks by the remaining two while closing the distance between them.

"The one on the left is _mine_," James growled as he crossed Lily's line of fire.

"Right," she nodded, proceeding to focus on the last of the original pair.

James made sure to use stronger shield charms as he advanced on the late arrival to the scene. Whoever it was, they were here to play rough. James was finished playing. Deflecting the next curse easily, James began to rain down spells on his target. Narrowly dodging a particularly sinister sounding curse, he flicked his wand twice upward and surprised Lily's mark with a stunner that laid him out cold for the moment. Though he was rewarded with another gash in his flesh, this time on his shin, James was pleased to see his assailant beating a hasty retreat. As they approached, the figure James had stunned managed to rouse the other and the pair followed their compatriot in retreat.

"That's right!" James gasped out loudly. "Run off after you pick on first years! Cowards!" He eased himself to the ground to rest.

"Merlin!" Lily exclaimed. "How did you do that?"

"You know what they say, Evans," James started, wiping his brow and flashing her a devilish grin. "Practice makes perfect."

"And where do they practice that?"

"Me and my mates in our spare time," he chuckled. "Suppose I'd best get to practice though. They'll be missing me..."

"You can't possibly practice like that!" Lily protested. "You should be in the hospital wing."

"Evans," James panted, "two broken ribs and a bruised sternum in the match against Ravenclaw didn't send me to the hospital wing, and neither will they. It's a few cuts and a bit of blood."

"You've bled all over your robes…"

'The robes, I can take care of. The cuts…well, Katie wants to be a Healer…I'm sure she'll have something."

"Potter…"

"I'm fine, Evans," James insisted. "Thanks for the assist."

"You're–"

"I'm fine," he repeated firmly. "You've got bigger things to worry about than my paper cuts. Jog on."

Lily shook her head before starting her trek back to the castle to report the events. As she reached the pathway leading to the entrance she spared another glance at James Potter's shrinking form. "Unbelievable," she muttered to herself. "He's completely, completely mental."

**A/N: As promised, some James and Lily interaction. It hopefully reveals a bit more about both of them and puts into the open some of what I think might have been flaws for Lily, both in terms of her approach to certain areas of magic and personally. As I've already indicated, their interaction will ramp up from this point forward, but do not expect their existing relationships to be neglected. You can also expect a little more from the Marauders this half of sixth year, and in particular more action for both Remus and Peter, who will absolutely still be trying to pull off his solo prank.**


	21. The Prince's Pain

Before beginning his day with another delightful helping of Potions, James Potter had an appointment with his Head of House. Though he understood the urgency, his stomach protested at the light breakfast he had blazed through in the Great Hall. A pre-class meeting had not been on his agenda when he had snuck out after curfew last night to enjoy a post-curfew rendezvous with his girlfriend in one of the school's spacious broom closets. Still, it was where he found himself ordered to be upon waking up. Somehow Evans had been able to get hers out of the way separately while he and Sirius had suffered through another of Sprout's detentions. Sirius was right. McGonagall truly was merciless. Still half-asleep and low on energy, James trudged into the Transfiguration teacher's office, quickly taking a seat in one of the offered wooden chairs.

"Good morning, Mr. Potter," the older woman chirped.

"Morning, Professor."

"I take it you know why you're here?" she asked.

"The attack, right?" James questioned, stifling a yawn.

"Indeed," McGonagall answered solemnly. "From all I know of the history of this school, I believe this is the most disturbing event to take place on school grounds since a student died some years before I attended. Were it not for you and Miss Evans's timely intervention, it is unclear if the consequences might have been more severe than they were."

James awaited the inevitable questions.

"Given the gravity of the events, I have been asked by the Headmaster to oversee a full-scale inquiry into this incident. What I need from you, Potter, is to tell me _exactly_ what you remember happening that day."

"Well, it was fairly sudden," James began. "I was on my way to Quidditch practice with Katie and Sirius, and then I ended up stopping to talk to Evans for a bit. All of a sudden we just saw two figures start firing spells at the first-years coming back from Care of Magical Creatures."

"Two figures? It was my understanding from Miss Evans that there were three."

"Right. Well, originally it was just the two of them. All black with some cloth covering their faces. Evans was helping the rest of the first-years get to safety, shielding them and such, while I took them on. I was about to take one of them out and that's when the third figure appeared."

"Dressed the same?"

"Exactly the same, though he seemed a bit shorter and thinner."

"I see…"

"He was the one who was really using the most damaging stuff. The others, it was all basic…stunners, leg-lockers, tripping jinxes. The third one is the one who dealt me the cuts," James said, gesturing to the parts of his body that had been affected.

"Did you see anything identifiable about them?"

"I didn't have to."

"Did you or did you not–"

"Professor," James interrupted. "I know who did it. Or at least the third one. It was Severus Snape."

"Severus Snape?" McGonagall scoffed, looking incredulous. "That is a very serious charge, Potter. Not one to make lightly or without evidence…"

"Look, I know I don't have _evidence_ exactly. I just know it was him. He's been sneaking around with old books from the restricted section since the beginning of last year, hanging around making funny wand movements, muttering to himself…"

"Mr. Potter, surely you realize that strange activities, no matter how peculiar or suspicious they may seem to you are not sufficient to accuse a student of such a serious breach of the rules. Any student found responsible for this attack would be facing expulsion!"

"So he just gets away with it then? Because he and his friends were smart enough to cover up their faces?"

"I'm afraid if there is no more evidence that you can provide, then the _individuals_ responsible, whoever they may be, will not be found or punished. Without wand confirmation or identifying eyewitnesses…"

"You can't do anything," James finished darkly.

"Mr. Potter," McGonagall warned, "I strongly caution you to avoid repeating the accusation you have made here _or_ from acting upon it in any way. Do I make myself perfectly clear?"

"Yes, Professor," James grumbled.

"Well then," McGonagall started, "I believe Professor Slughorn will be expecting you in the dungeons shortly?"

"Indeed he will."

"Then I suggest you make your way there now. And Potter…we will be watching all paths to and from the school with the utmost care from this point forward. If the individuals responsible attempt an attack like this again, rest assured they _will_ be punished. The Headmaster himself will see to it."

"Thanks, Professor," James said, frowning as he left to catch his friends and girlfriend on the way to Slughorn's next lesson.

* * *

As Severus Snape stared into his cooling cauldron a light peal of laughter caused him to look up and across the classroom. In front of him, Lily Evans's auburn hair rippled as her head bobbed slightly. He was only able to see the back of her head from his vantage point, but he could tell that the source of her amusement was Lily's boyfriend and brewing partner, Lionel Baird. The young Slytherin cursed himself again for the mistakes of the previous year. Before then it had been him that made her smile. It was _supposed_ to be him over that cauldron now, basking in the warmth of her presence. All the times he imagined his future in his family's gloomy house in Spinner's End, it had been he who had won her heart.

Eager for a distraction, he glanced at the contents of his cauldron again. Not nearly thick enough yet to begin heating once more. Brewing a Pepperup Potion was a pedestrian assignment that was a waste of he and his more talented classmates' time and effort he stewed. It was sadly typical of his Head of House's permissive approach to N.E.W.T.-level instruction.

From the back of the room he could feel a pair of eyes watching him. James Potter. The arrogant Gryffindor disgusted him. He was the source of so many of the problems Severus had, both now and throughout school. Potter's constant targeting of him for hexing and his own inability to fend him off had, until recently, sullied his reputation in his own house. The swine's boastful manner and incessant pursuit of Lily Evans had successfully thwarted almost every quiet moment in which Severus had contemplated telling his ideal mate how he felt about her. At the beginning of the week, he had managed to repel the attack that had been so carefully planned by Severus and his new associates.

Thoughts of the attack naturally turned his attention back to Lily. Did she know he had been involved? Had Potter relayed to her his obvious suspicions? In the depths of his heavily-walled heart, Severus still ached for an opportunity to set things right with the witch he loved. She was never supposed to be there he thought bitterly. He had known of Gryffindor's scheduled Quidditch practice, but the pitch was far enough away and Potter had never delayed his arrival before. It was Lily's most precious quality he realized – it was her constant kindness that had sent everything pear-shaped. It was all that made sense. She despised Potter, but in class that morning she had attacked him with an unjustifiable slight that her conscience would never bear for long. So she had followed. Interrupted Potter's progress. And now _he_ was responsible for an attack that placed _her_ in jeopardy. Were she to find out he would truly be beyond forgiveness.

Avery and Mulciber were fortunate he considered. Had they harmed her in the slightest…Severus had been practicing a truly devastating new curse to which only he knew the counter. It was dark. The darkest he had yet to develop, but they would have deserved every moment of suffering it gave them if they had touched her.

His gaze fell upon Lily again. After all he had been through it amazed him how the mere sight of her could still pull on his heart. It was the best, purest magic he knew. She had turned to face the front of the classroom again and now he could see her face. Her face was awash with the perfect glow generated by her smile. Her slightly-reddened lips parted again as she let out a soft giggle. Baird whispered something in her ear and the giggle became a laugh which stabbed him like a knife again and again. Lily flicked her head, tossing her hair back behind her again. For just a moment, it gave Severus a glimpse, however distant, of the emerald eyes he had looked into so many times before. They were alight with happiness. Happiness inspired by his replacement.

He stared into his cauldron again, growing more anxious than ever to proceed. The red-orange liquid within had cooled enough now, drying slightly into a semi-solid gelatinous goo. He was the first to ignite the fire under his cauldron again, waiting expectantly as the mixture became brighter in hue. He glanced at Lily Evans once more as he added more of the mandrake root shavings along with an intense burst of heat. The potion in his cauldron steamed and crackled before he immediately reduced the heat to add more water to the concoction. As he did, the flecks of mandrake root sparked exactly as they should have. Severus smiled faintly before elbowing Mulciber to resume preparing their ingredients.

He sighed. Cauldrons he could control. Potions he could meticulously plan and prepare until ready. Love was different. It arose unexpectedly. It grew and waned inconsistently. It could be given endlessly, but still go unnoticed. Love was cruel.

**A/N: Apologies for the delay in updating. I knew I wanted to address Snape again, but it was something of a bear to write him again. I am always left wondering a bit how far to go with his emotions because while I feel like we know he feels very strongly about things, his ability to mask this on the outside (at least as an adult in canon) makes it hard to know how powerful they are in the moment and how heavily they weigh on his mind. Where I feel like I probably went a bit over the top with his bitterness last time, I worry that I might have gotten a bit rambly and excessive with his thoughts and feelings about Lily here. If you have feelings about how Snape is playing out so far, I would love to hear it (or anything else you'd like to share). Thanks again for reading and reviewing!**


	22. Three Broom Closets

"I'm with McGonagall on this, James," Remus said, shaking his head. "We have absolutely no way of knowing who attacked our first-years."

"Yeah…I mean you've seen the papers. The world's going mad lately…" Peter piped up.

"Just long-held opinions coming out in the worst way," Sirius muttered darkly.

"It wasn't any of that lot," James insisted. "They've killed people. Merlin! Think of Oliver Smith! If they'd got on grounds they'd be firing more than stunners."

"And one apparently was…" Remus said, fixing James with a stare.

James whipped his head around to glare at Sirius.

The long-haired boy raised his hands in the air. "Don't give me that, Prongs. They needed to know."

"Like hell," James grumbled. "Katie fixed me up just fine. Practice went without a hitch."

"The point is," Remus began again, "someone _was_ out there casting dark curses."

"Exactly. Snivellus," James said firmly. "He's always practicing bizarre wand movements, muttering to himself, coming in and out of the restricted section–"

"And the only new thing we've ever overheard was that incredibly useful, but relatively innocuous muffling spell," Remus interrupted.

"Look," James said pointedly, "I was out there. It was him."

Remus threw his hands in the air.

Sirius shrugged.

"What are you asking us to do exactly?" Peter asked meekly.

"Well…I'd just handle it myself, but given what I told McGonagall back when it happened it'd come right back to me. All I'm saying is that our first-years deserve somebody dishing out a little retaliation. Other than the occasional tripping jinx, we've left Snivellus alone far too long this year anyway."

"I can agree with you there," Sirius quickly added. "What's the plan then? Dump him in the lake? De-pants him in Hogsmeade? I've been dying to do either of those…"

"Simpler," James said conspiratorially. "He's in Defense with us just before lunch. I figure we catch him alone, put a full body bind on him and tuck him away somewhere. Easy enough to manage."

"Well, I'd do it in a heartbeat Prongs, but it's almost March…Quidditch coming up soon…you know we can't afford me being banned," Sirius answered.

"I'll do it," Peter volunteered. "He's been goading me ever since he out-dueled me again."

The others shared a skeptical glance before James locked eyes with Remus.

The sandy-haired wizard sighed. "Alright. I'll help," he said resignedly, patting Peter on the shoulder in support.

* * *

Immediately after being dismissed for the day by Professor Osorio, Remus and Peter quickly made their way to a deserted corridor. Their plan was simple. After ensuring no students or staff were in the vicinity, they would don James' invisibility cloak and proceed to the dungeons near the Slytherin dormitories. When Snape inevitably left alone for the Great Hall, he would be subdued and transported to an out of the way broom closet for safekeeping. With a bit of luck, the entire task would be finished in time to catch James and Sirius for lunch.

After over an hour of waiting, things were not going according to plan.

"Does he even eat lunch?" Peter whispered loudly, his speech almost being overwhelmed by the sound of his stomach growling.

"You'd know best, Wormtail," Remus answered. "You certainly never skip a meal."

Remus left out a groan as he struggled to keep the cloak covering both of them following a sharp elbow from his portliest friend.

"Cut it!" he hissed. "Between your elbow and your stomach, if he does come out we'll miss it."

"You asked for the elbow," Peter replied with annoyance.

Both fell silent as the wall opened to release another Slytherin from the bowels of their section of the dungeons. Fortunately, that student was none other than Severus Snape, who to their relief was in fact alone. The pair immediately took up pursuit.

"Merlin! Can he walk any faster?" Peter panted as Snape turned another corner.

"Just keep up!" Remus whispered harshly. "He gets to the staircase and we've lost even more of our day."

As he approached said staircase, Snape stopped suddenly. He remained frozen in thought for a moment before turning back the way he had come, almost running into Peter and Remus in the process. Spotting no other students in the area, Remus signaled Peter that the time to act had come.

Casting off the cloak, Remus yelled. "_Obscuro_!" The spell had the desired effect, producing a tight blindfold over Snape's eyes.

In the next moment, Peter cried out, "_Petrificus Totalus!_"

Snape's body went instantly rigid and the pair moved quickly to cover it with the cloak. With a flick of his wand, Remus used the _mobilicorpus_ charm, positioning Snape's incapacitated body in front of them. With Peter watching their rear, the boys proceeded carefully forward up several staircases until they discovered a sufficiently deserted corridor with a broom closet. As Peter opened the door, Remus removed the cloak and folded it up into his robes. Manipulating Snape's body so he was almost standing upright in the doorway, he canceled the charm they had used to move him and shoved him, still blindfolded, into the darkness.

* * *

After dinner that evening, Lily Evans found herself once again wandering the castle with her boyfriend. Though the conversations were always interesting with Lionel, she found herself disappointed with his apparent hesitance around her. Reflecting on their relationship over the past two months, she could not help but notice that she was always the initiator. On New Year's Eve, _she_ had kissed him. _She_ had prodded home that it was time for him to formalize their relationship. Lionel frequently proposed the same activities for their alone time around the school. Now she could see that if things were going to progress beyond hand-holding and a kiss goodnight on this occasion, _she_ was going to have to be the one to do it.

"So…are you going to the Quidditch match against Hufflepuff?" she offered tepidly, inwardly cursing herself. Still, she reasoned, perhaps it was best to tip-toe up to her eventual point.

"Oh I always go," Lionel volunteered brightly. "I know Hufflepuff are kind of a whipping post this year, but I love watching. Besides, Anders and Gregory would probably kill me if I didn't."

"Right…Anders and Gregory…" Lily trailed off. How could a boy who looked like he did be so clueless?

Lionel immediately flushed and apologized. "Oh! Lily…I'm sorry! I hadn't thought. I mean obviously we'd be going together–"

"It's fine," Lily interrupted, waving his concerns away.

"Well…do you want to sit with me or should we sit with your friends?"

"Yours I think. You've seen plenty of Marlene and Alana these past few weeks. Besides, I wouldn't want you to neglect your mates on my account. It would be nice to get to know them a bit better too, seeing as we are dating…" she replied. There she went again, making the decision.

"Okay then."

The pair walked on in relative silence for a few minutes as they neared Gryffindor Tower. Lily was frustrated. There was plenty of time before she had to do rounds with Remus. Suddenly she spied a broom closet ahead of them on the right. Merlin, she thought, it would be so unlike her…

"Lionel," Lily smiled sweetly, stopping in her tracks.

"Yes?"

"I'm…not quite ready to go back yet."

"Oh…well I just figured with your rounds…"

"I've got plenty of time before rounds," she said, closing the distance to mere centimeters between them.

"Right," Lionel said simply, his eyes widening as his girlfriend's intention became clear. "So…in there then?" he asked, trying to seem casual as he gestured toward the broom closet.

"Well…it's not normally what I'd choose–"

"Right, right," Lionel interrupted. "Maybe there's time to–"

Lily was done being coy. She fixed her eyes on Lionel's, her gaze steeled with assertiveness. "Lionel. Take me into that broom closet right now."

Hurriedly he led her over and opened the small wooden door, gesturing for her to go in first while furtively scanning the deserted corridor for signs of approaching students. Satisfied that they had not been seen, he stepped inside and shut it behind him.

Pressed against one another by the sheer lack of space, Lily smiled as Lionel's lips tenderly met hers. Kissing him back hard, she grabbed his face with her hands before rewarding him for his eventual obedience with several short kisses. Though she was loathe to admit it, even in the privacy of her own mind, snogging was something Lily had missed.

* * *

Two hours later, Lily and Remus had nearly finished their required rounds.

"Thirty minutes for two more floors. I think we may manage to be on time tonight," Remus said happily.

"We ran a bit low on miscreants tonight didn't we?" Lily mused.

"Absolutely. I'm a bit worried to be honest. It seems without our providing constant inspiration the worst our schoolmates can muster lately is being out after curfew."

Lily glanced at him disapprovingly. "Remind me how you were made prefect again?"

Remus chuckled. "I like to tell myself that the powers behind that decision saw something special within me. Though in fairness, I think it's more likely I'm just clever enough to avoid pranks I know will get me caught."

Lily laughed. "You really can be as shameless as Potter and Black at times, you know?"

"I do. We _are_ friends after all."

"What do you see in them?"

"Really?" Remus inquired, raising an eyebrow.

"Really. Obviously they're very talented–"

"I can assure you our friendship has far more to do with their traits than their talents," Remus interrupted, his voice laden with a heavy seriousness. "James and Sirius approach friendship with the same fierceness with which they approach everything else. They've both made difficult choices and immense sacrifices for me over the years. I can trust them with anything. And I am reminded daily that they have the same confidence in me."

Lily stopped walking and gazed out one of the castle's small windows. Silence hung between the two Gryffindor prefects as Lily stared into the starry sky thoughtfully, while Remus looked down at the stone floor of the corridor they had been patrolling, scuffing his feet idly.

"Too much then?" he offered, smiling feebly.

"No," Lily said softly, turning back toward him. "It's just surprising. That someone as rational and reasonable as you is so completely sure of something I've never seen any sign of."

Remus looking at the red-haired witch next to him meaningfully. "We all have our secrets Lily. Some people's just happen to be light instead of dark."

"But why hide it? Why behave the way they do if they're really like you say?"

"They have their reasons."

Lily rolled her eyes. "Could you be any vaguer?"

"I'm afraid I'm sworn to secrecy on those points. But if you really wanted to know–"

"They'd never share," she interrupted. "Especially not with me."

As they climbed the staircase to the last floor left to patrol the conversation died, each of them lost in their own thoughts. Rounding two corners and stepping into an empty passage, their attention was snapped back to the job at hand by the sound of heavy breathing and the occasional thump against the door of a broom closet.

Remus smirked. "You'll catch up? I know the broom closet bust is your specialty…"

Lily nodded and the sandy-haired wizard slinked past quietly before rounding the corner ahead. After he had gone, she reflected briefly on the partial hypocrisy of what she was about to do. True, the students were out after curfew, but her usual speech seemed inappropriate given that she had just engaged in the type of behavior she was about to reprimand them for immediately prior to beginning her rounds, albeit much more carefully. Taking a deep breath, she approached the door and flung it wide.

Inside, she was first confronted by the back of traditional school robes, which she quickly followed up to a delicate hand fiercely grabbing a fistful of their owner's black hair. Lily's suppressed amusement quickly turned to irritation however when it became clear that whoever they were, they were either still unaware of her presence or willfully ignoring it. She began to reach out a hand toward the snogging couple when they flattened themselves sideways and carried on. From her new vantage point, she could see that the black-haired wizard was none other than James Potter, locked in an intense kiss with his girlfriend, Katie Wallenby.

"Ahem!" she coughed loudly.

Two pairs of eyes suddenly flew open and both struggled to scramble out of the small space before Potter quickly took the initiative, stepping out and blocking Katie from Lily's glare.

"Need something, Evans?" he said.

Lily bristled at his choice of words. "I _need_ both of you to get back to the Tower. It's almost two hours past curfew and you both know better. That will be–"

"Come on, Evans. You know that'll have to be reported. We'll go now and you can just pretend you never saw us."

"Tragic," she said coolly.

Potter turned away from her quickly and put his hands on Katie's shoulders, whispering something to her. Though Lily still could not see her clearly, the girl seemed to be surprisingly shaken up by the incident.

Turning back around, Potter stepped toward her, putting more distance between Lily and Katie. "Look...we broke the rules. I get it," he began in a surprisingly pleading tone. "It's just…I'm not asking for me alright. Katie's dad is…strict. He gets an owl any time she loses points or gets below Exceeds Expectations on an assignment. He'll flip."

Lily paused to think for a moment. She did feel for Katie, but then she and Potter both knew the risk when they came here. Aside from that, she disliked the idea of not giving equal punishments to each violator. "I'm sorry about that, but I can't. I just can't. I always give the same punishment…five points each."

"Please," James begged, locking eyes with Lily this time.

"Potter, I've already said–"

"I know what you said. Ten points total. So just take them all on account of me. Leave Katie out of it."

Lily moved her head to see Katie. The poor girl did look genuinely worried. "Okay," Lily said finally. "Potter, that's ten points from Gryffindor for your flagrant disregard for curfew."

Behind him, Lily noticed Katie's face wash with relief and silently mouth a 'thank you' in her direction. In a flash, the pair were gone.

By the time she caught up to Remus he had almost made it back to Gryffindor Tower. "Enjoyed it tonight did you?" he asked.

"No, actually," she answered. "That was kind of the problem."

"Well, well," he chuckled, "I hope you're not going soft on me."

"No. Ten points, just like always."

"Alright then," Remus shrugged. "I'm off to bed then. Busy day tomorrow."

"Night Remus," Lily replied, waving as she headed off to her own dormitory.

As she ascended the stairs, Lily's thoughts returned to her experiences with broom closets that night. She was glad that she and Lionel had finally really snogged, even if it had only been around twenty-five minutes. It was different from the experiences she had as a young girl. Slower. More deliberate. Suddenly the thought crept into her mind that it was almost…polite. Neither of them had needed to fix their hair or clothing. Lily had only barely touched up smudges to the light make-up she was wearing.

When she had caught Potter with Katie, it was different. She had heard their heavy breathing. Seen their flushed faces. She remembered the visible strength with which the brown-haired witch's hand gripped Potter's hair. Still, neither looked messy like the younger students she caught often did. What she had broken up had been anything _but_ polite. Lily had a fleeting feeling she couldn't quite place. But as she opened the door to her dormitory, it was gone as quickly as it came, buried by the avalanche of greetings and questions that issued immediately from her two roommates.

**A/N: First of all, those of you reading are amazing. I have been working my tail off to keep updating regularly and it is always encouraging to see how quickly some of you read each new chapter after it validates. Also, the fact that this has gotten over 2,000 views in the two weeks since I started cross-posting here is exciting for me since this is the first story I've posted here and I haven't done any promo art for the story. Again, you are awesome!**

**As for this chapter, I decided to do something a bit different and confront a lot of issues that are brewing all at once. I will admit from the outset that a big reason for that is that I wrestled with which specific issue I wanted to address next, but I think it actually turned out nicely dealing with them all together through the broom closet structure. I'm interested to see what you guys think.**


	23. Confrontations

In the aftermath of Gryffindor's 420-110 victory over Hufflepuff spirits in the house had been running high. Their team was once more perched atop the standings for the Quidditch Cup and celebrations had gone long into the night. Now, in the morning light, many students awakened to find themselves contorted on common room furniture amidst their housemates. As others trickled down from the dormitories above, many of the younger students passed each other awkwardly, blushing or avoiding eye contact as the reality of the impromptu snogging of the night before set in fully.

Sirius Black smiled in amusement as he witnessed a similar interaction between Remus Lupin and their dark-haired housemate Britt Lawson. Though the conversation between the two did not seem to be going comfortably for either, Sirius hoped that whatever had happened between them the night before might finally push his friend over the hump. While the secret werewolf's reluctance to become too closely involved with most, let alone a member of the opposite sex was understandable to him, Sirius thought having a more than friendly connection might benefit the most reserved, studious member of their quartet.

Speaking of more than friendly connections, Sirius allowed his mind to wander back to the night he had enjoyed with Shannon O'Donnell. It had been some time since their "date" in Hogsmeade, but they had managed to meet covertly on more than one occasion to enjoy further editions. The well-proportioned blonde had little wit to speak of. Of course they did have some shared interests, but the one he found most important was fantastic. She never failed to ensure he enjoyed their meetings immensely. Blessedly it was purely physical for each of them. Absent the public pressures of Hogsmeade there was never even a need for superficial romance or entertaining inane conversation topics he couldn't care less about. Without any commitment he didn't have to put up with neediness or demands for some deep emotional connection. Outside his close friends and James's incredibly supportive family, that well had been long-poisoned and it was one he felt no incentive to cleanse any time soon.

Shaking his thoughts from the dark rails they were threatening to travel, he was surprised to see the attractive blonde witch standing before him. As she looked down at him, Sirius casually smoothed the back of his hair down and smirked in her direction.

"Hey," she said tentatively, raising her small hand in a tiny wave.

Sirius was surprised that she was engaging him in a one-on-one conversation. "Hello," he said lukewarmly.

"I…uhh…enjoyed last night," Shannon continued, looking down and tucking a stray strand of hair behind her ear.

"Yeah. Me too."

She blushed. "I guess I already said that yesterday…"

Sirius squinted his eyes, looking at her intently. "Several times actually."

An awkward silence fell between them.

Sirius sat up from his relaxed position on the couch. "Did you need something?"

Shannon's hand rose to cover her mouth as she appeared to waver between speaking and leaving. Finally, she fixed him with an icy glare. "You're a real arse!" she yelled, drawing the attention of all the Gryffindors currently bustling about the common room.

Sirius immediately stood, his irritation rising. "Excuse me?" he hissed back.

"What's wrong with you?" she yelled again. "We've been doing this on-and-off for _months_ now. And all you have to say after last night is 'did you need something'?"

Sirius crossed his arms and glared at Shannon fiercely. "This is _not_ the place," he barked loudly.

"What _is_ the place, then? Breakfast? By the lake? Hogsmeade next weekend? You know, the places where boys take girls they care about?" she shot back, clearly seething.

The crowd had now formed a clear circle around the feuding pair. The male students in the audience largely appeared amused, while their female counterparts stared on in either shock or cold intensity.

"Ohhh ho!" Sirius defended, turning sideways and wagging a finger in the space between them. "You agreed this was _never_ about that."

"Of course, I did. I thought I could get a chance to know you. And you'd get to know me and maybe things would change…"

"And I was clear from the beginning," he said icily.

"Well excuse me if things weren't so clear last night," Shannon spat.

Gasps and 'oohs' rang out from the surrounding students at the latest revelation.

Sirius felt the heat rising within him. "I _never_ promised you _anything_ more than what I've given. I got to know you plenty first half of our trip to Hogsmeade in November. You want to hear the truth in front of all these people?" he raged, not waiting to hear Shannon's answer. "After that trip I felt more comfortable than _ever_ with our arrangement."

Shannon sniffed as she tried to fight back tears. "That's a load of rubbish!" she fired back, holding her nerve. "You're a _coward_, Sirius Black. You make me sick." Spinning on her heel, she bolted up the stairs to the girls dormitories, a single loud sob ringing out before the assembled mass of students heard a door slam.

* * *

A half hour later, Sirius finally made his way down to join James and Katie in the Great Hall. Katie lifted her eyes briefly from her oatmeal to look back and forth between the two best friends. Noticing James had his mouth shut more tightly than usual and that Sirius's face was scrunched tightly she remained silent and went back to eating. After enduring five minutes of pure silence however, the atmosphere was beginning to become unbearable. Looking between the two Marauders he noticed that they seemed to be exchanging some sort of information through hard stares.

"James, could you pass a muffin?" she asked suddenly. Receiving no response, she prodded him playfully.

"Sorry, what?" James asked, turning to give Katie his full attention, at least for the moment.

"I just wondered if I might get a muffin. You're kind of hoarding them…"

"Oh…right. What kind?"

"Blueberry sounds nice. Could you pass the butter as well?"

"Sure, sure," he said quickly, handing both items over at once before turning back to Sirius.

Katie rolled her eyes and decided to change tactics. "Sirius, you seem to be in a...dark…mood."

"Yes, well," Sirius muttered, shaking his head as he continued to scowl, "didn't have the most pleasant morning."

Katie was pleased to see that James looked a bit freer following her broaching of the subject.

"Bad as we heard then mate?" he asked gingerly.

"Bloody nightmare," Sirius answered darkly. "Made me out to be some sort of unscrupulous bloke. Like I took advantage or something. You know me, Prongs. I'm always perfectly clear about things."

"Course, Padfoot…" James started.

Sirius glared as his best friend let his thought trail off in hesitation. "Something more to say?"

James raised his hands as if to surrender. "Nothing in particular…it's just that, well, you've been rather lucky up until now don't you think?"

"Lucky?"

"Yes…err…I mean we are talking about witches here."

Katie jabbed her boyfriend in the side, watching him wince.

"No offense, Katie…you know it's just that–"

"Why don't you just move on to your next thought…" Katie interrupted faking a sweet smile while her eyes shot James a withering glare. "Perhaps it will be a bit…smarter?"

"Right," James said contritely. "I guess what I'm trying to say is…most people just aren't made to go on without any commitment forever."

Katie relaxed, pleased at her boyfriend's more eloquent revision.

"So you're agreeing with them?" Sirius growled back in surprise.

James shook his still-raised hands, trying to draw attention to them. "Of course not. I mean, not that you're unscrupulous–"

"What am I exactly then?"

"You're great! I'm just saying maybe you could give it a try. You know…an actual relationship."

Sirius harrumphed. "No thanks, Prongs. You might be happy shackling yourself down–"

"Excuse me?" Katie said loudly.

"Come on, Padfoot," James said disapprovingly. "Don't bring Katie into this."

"Don't bring _me_ into it?" Katie said in disbelief. "That's clearly bringing _us_ into it, James."

Suddenly, James felt as if he was under fire from all sides. "Right. Of course. I mean obviously I don't feel that way about you…"

"That's what wrong with you, Prongs. You just don't see it. How many pranks have you pulled this year?"

"As many as you," James fired back immediately.

"And about a third as many as years past," Sirius said bitterly. "If you weren't so fixed on not upsetting Wallenby here–"

Before Katie could speak, James was out of his seat and standing. "Back off, Padfoot!" he warned. "She signed off on the bloody Christmas prank right in front of you. You're just making an arse of yourself."

"At least I'm not living like someone I'm not every day," Sirius said fiercely, rising off his own bench.

James glared at his best friend, his eyes burning with anger. "Shut it! Now!" he hissed, their faces inches apart.

Sirius threw his head back and laughed bitterly. "You know, I expected this from those idiots in the common room, Prongs. Most of them have been wrapped around their girls' little fingers since day one…but my best mate? I thought you'd be better than that."

James took a deep breath and shook his head sadly as he exhaled. "You know what? I'm going to let this go. You're not yourself."

Sirius scoffed.

"You're not," he repeated firmly. "We've talked about this. When you actually want to deal with it…find me. 'Til then, don't make _your_ issues about me and _my_ relationship. Come on, Katie. Let's go."

As the couple walked out of the Great Hall side-by-side, Sirius Black laid his forehead to rest on the edge of the table, kicking himself for letting his bitterness and sharp tongue get the better of him. Since they had first become friends, it was his first serious row with James Potter. The lack of experience and added fact that he had royally infuriated James's girlfriend left him with little idea of where to even begin fixing things. Sighing, he thought of Remus. Perhaps their wisest friend would have some insight. Sirius came to the painful realization that until then, on what was supposed to be a happy, lazy Sunday he was completely alone.

* * *

After lunch Lionel had suggested that Lily join him down by the lake for more stroll and conversation. At first Lily had considered begging off. Despite their broom closet experience, things had improved very little on the physical front. True, Lionel proved a bit more eager to initiate physical contact with her, but aside from locking arms or holding hands it was never terribly lengthy. The weight of classwork also meant she had been unable to have a proper conversation with Marlene and Alana about things, something Lily hoped would help immensely. After all she considered, her last real relationship had ended along with the conclusion of fourth year, and none too well. Maybe she had lost touch with how things usually proceeded, especially among older couples. In the end though, she had decided against it. The lake could be a romantic setting, far more so than the common room or the library where the couple had been spending most of their time lately. Perhaps that was what Lionel was waiting for.

Roughly two hours later, Lily realized that any benefit of the doubt she had given her boyfriend had been undeserved. She felt she had been painfully obvious this time. Certainly more physically flirtatious than she had ever been. She had started simply, all smiles, pretending to hang on his every word. Then came the snuggling into him and pretending to still be feeling a chill in the Spring air. Finally she had gotten him to sit down next to her on the far shore and done a little playful shoving and fiddling with his hair. It was exasperating. And still he droned on, seemingly oblivious.

"So then my Dad told the shop owner, 'Look, you can stick with Mrs. Skower's, but between you and me the only purpose it's fit for is–"

"Is there something wrong with me?" Lily interrupted.

Lionel immediately switched from speaking to gaping, a shocked expression covering his face.

"I mean obviously there must be some issue–"

"No!" Lionel said quickly. "Of course not! You're wonderful."

Lily rolled her eyes.

"I mean you're so caring, you're a great listener…I can keep going," he said hopefully.

"Are you really that daft?" she muttered quietly, shaking her head.

"What?"

"I've been flirting with you like mad this entire time," Lily said evenly. "It's like you don't even notice."

"Of course I noticed," Lionel defended. "I mean, sure you were a little more…handsy than usual…but it's what girls do around guys they like, right?"

"It sure is!" Lily said, unable to mask her irritation behind feigned enthusiasm. "But usually it actually _means_ something a little more. It should be clear enough by now…we have been dating for over three months."

"Right," Lionel said.

Lily groaned, pushing herself up off the ground next to him. "I don't know if I can even have this conversation," she responded, crossing her arms and staring into the sky in frustration.

Lionel stood to match her. "Look, Lily, if I've done or said something–"

"Merlin!" she broke, glad there was no one around to see them. "It's not anything you've _done_. It's what you _don't_ do. Don't get me wrong, I generally abhor stereotypes, but I am a girl. Sometimes it's nice to be wooed, to not have to take the initiative every time…"

"Lily–"

"If I'm going to have to spell it out for you, just let me talk!" she yelled, starting to go red in the face. "I practically forced you into a broom closet a few weeks ago! That's the first time I ever led or was led into one of those things. I felt like I had to do it because I wanted to bloody snog!"

"This is about snogging?"

"Right now it is absolutely about snogging."

"Right now…"

Lily growled. "Merlin, Lionel! Who kissed who first?"

"You kissed me. New Year's Eve."

"Right. And who made things official?"

"I did, when we this term started."

"After I told you to on New Year's Eve," Lily said fiercely.

"Okay?"

"And who started our first actually snogging session?"

"Well you've already said–"

"Exactly! Me! It keeps being me! The _only_ exception was our first date. At first I cracked it up to you being patient…respectful. I like that. But now it just seems like there's some problem."

"Lily…" Lionel started tentatively, "can you just calm down for a moment?"

"Calm down? We're having it out!"

"_You're_ yelling at me," he said with an irritated scowl. "I've barely got to say a word."

Lily breathed in deeply and let it go, feeling some of her emotion over the situation ebb away. "Fine. I'm perfectly calm."

Lionel regarded her skeptically.

"Fine," she conceded. "I'm calm enough to hear you."

"Look, I'm sorry if I haven't been as…bold…as maybe you were expecting. I suppose it's just that…well we all have our pasts, right? You've been serious with someone before. All the witches I've dated…I mean some carried on longer than others, but in the end all they cared about was being physical. With me specifically. You know, wanting it to be known they'd snogged Lionel Baird, and where and when and for how long. I know that's not you, but it changed me a bit. Made me more cautious I suppose."

Lily instantly felt foolish. It was a mistake she still made too often, bottling up her thoughts or feelings rather than talking about them when the problem started. Had she taken the trouble to bring it up sooner, perhaps her tirade would never have happened. Perhaps she wouldn't have been stewing for the past two hours.

She sighed. "I'm sorry, Lionel. One thing you've always been great at is talking. I should have just brought it up sooner…I would've gotten to know that about you and–"

"It's alright," he interrupted gently, tucking a strand of her hair that had flown out from behind her ear. "I probably should've said something after the broom closet. I did get an inkling..." he trailed off.

"Did you, now?" Lily asked, raising an eyebrow. "And here I spent the last three weeks thinking you were just completely clueless."

Lionel approached her with a broad smile and hugged her tightly before kissing her tenderly on the mouth. As they separated, he looked at Lily with a mischievous glint in his eye. "So…I was thinking…there is a nice tree over there if maybe you wanted to…"

"Absolutely," Lily grinned.

Lionel watched her bolt toward the tree, red hair bouncing happily behind her. Taking a moment before he followed, he cast his eyes upward. "Thank Merlin I didn't mess this one up."

**A/N: Title was pretty transparent in terms of the fighting, but I thought it would be a good vehicle for getting things out in the open both about Sirius and Lionel as characters and about Sirius's real feelings regarding the change in James, which to this point he has been relatively diplomatic about. I also felt that fights would be a realistic way for these issues to come out from within guarded/careful characters like Sirius and Lily. Hope you're continuing to enjoy it reading as much as I'm enjoying writing. More will be coming soon.**


	24. Sunset

Sunset was Peter Pettigrew's favorite time of day, especially while at Hogwarts. There was something majestic in the sight of the glowing orb sliding slowly out of sight beyond the Black Lake. That was why he came all the way out here, to the far shore, several times a week to plan his perfect prank. Since having been practically laughed out of their compartment on the Hogwarts Express after declaring that he would execute a prank alone, Peter had been scheming. His first thought had been a basic dungbomb attack like the Marauders of old had done so many times before, but he had quickly discarded that notion. He had always been awestruck by the more daring pranks that Sirius and James had pulled. They were fond memories, even if he had been only a bit player in most of them. There was the mud muffin escapade they had pulled at the staff table in second year. The brilliant charms and masterful broomwork behind their derisive fireworks display after Slytherin had clinched the Quidditch Cup in their third. And of course, who could forget the Hogsmeade Hanging Hoax of 1975? McGonagall had given the lot of them two months detention for that little stunt. Peter was convinced it was only Sirius's family name and James's father's influence that prevented a formal inquiry and warning from the Ministry. This year, _he_ wanted to impress _them_.

Now, after months of careful planning, it was all going to come to fruition. Dinner would be starting in the Great Hall any moment now. As the work began to pile up toward the end of term, the students always became increasingly ravenous. Tonight however, most of them would be in for a special treat. Some hours before he had crept into the kitchens where the house elves of Hogwarts were beginning to prepare the food for the evening. Distracting them was easy enough. Since discovering the hidden entrance, the house elves and the Marauders had enjoyed a unique relationship. The four students supplied the conversation and companionship the creatures craved and in return, they were rewarded with special orders for parties in the common room, late night snacks, or items to use in food-based pranks. This time however, food was not Peter's goal. Over the course of an hour he moved about the room carefully, chatting with the creatures as they worked and providing them small sources of amusement while they did their work. While their attentions were divided, Peter several enchantments on the platters and goblets laid aside for the Hufflepuffs, Ravenclaws, and Slytherins. His own work done, he had made a gracious exit and come down to the lake to reflect on how best to bask in his imminent success.

A short time later, Peter filed into the Great Hall with the masses of other students in search of supper, eventually taking a seat next to James.

"You're looking quite pleased with yourself, Wormtail," Remus noted.

"Just having a good day is all," the squat Marauder replied.

Sirius grumbled inaudibly, causing Remus to roll his eyes. Their friend hadn't been the same since his public row with Shannon O'Donnell and the subsequent private spat that had developed later that morning between the long-locked young wizard and his best mate. For his part, James ignored Sirius entirely, happily engaging in conversation with his girlfriend and her two friends.

"How long is this going to go on?" Remus muttered to Sirius.

"Long as it takes, I suppose. Look at him. Carrying on as if he has a care in the world what her friends have to say." Still, a look of longing rested firmly in Sirius's eyes as he watched from the sidelines.

The sandy-haired young man chuckled. "I don't think you'll last the night."

As he looked eagerly toward the staff table, Peter saw the Headmaster's hand beginning to rise. Any moment now, Dumbledore would wave it widely over the tables and the assembled students would look to the platters and goblets expectantly. A second later he was grinning happily as he saw a large roast materialize in front of him. The first part of his plan had worked!

Loud protests quickly confirmed the second had as well. Looking across at the Slytherins, he was confronted with looks ranging from confusion to agitation. Behind him, he could hear some Hufflepuffs beginning to bang their fists on the table. As if that would fix the issue! Peter surreptitiously glanced toward the staff table. The professors were conferring with Dumbledore about what had happened as his fellow Gryffindors quickly tucked in. Soon, emissaries from Ravenclaw approached, imploring his housemates to share their bounty, but most of the Gryffindors were politely unwilling. The grousing at the Slytherin table reached a dull roar as the number of Hufflepuffs pounding their table increased. Several groups of students approached the professors, interrupting their conference about a solution as large swaths of the other houses began to join the united Hufflepuffs in their raucous fist-pounding. As the scene developed, Peter sat back and sighed happily. It was no Hanging Hoax, but it was going to be a treat to watch.

Roughly twenty minutes later, everything was back under control. Having repelled the groups of complaining students and settled down the disgruntled masses, the staff's assessment had been easy and the remedy quick. Nevertheless, the prank had been a hit amongst the Gryffindors. Peter was perfectly pleased with himself.

Once again, his satisfied expression did not go unnoticed by Remus. "Well…it seems you've proven both James and Sirius wrong in one fell swoop," he said with a smirk.

"Pssh!" Sirius scoffed. "What are you talking about Moony?"

"Look at him. I should think it's rather obvious."

Sirius regarded Peter skeptically. "You mean to tell me you stopped the food coming to the other Houses?"

"Sure, I did," Peter said confidently. "It actually turned out to be pretty easy, though it didn't last quite as long as I'd hoped."

"How?" Sirius asked, incredulous.

"Well, I just headed for the kitchens and chatted with the house elves while they made dinner. They sorted which dishes would be for which tables and I just cast some protective charms to prevent anything from entering the space around them."

"Hmm…then how did the elves get them out here?"

"I just shaped the protection so it didn't affect the handles or the bottom," Peter shrugged.

Sirius opened his mouth to speak, but stopped himself.

"I think the word you're looking for is 'Congratulations', Padfoot," Remus chuckled. "I'm sure Peter might appreciate 'I was wrong' as well, though I wouldn't expect it from you."

"Hell," Sirius grumbled. "Well done, Wormtail. I have to hand it to you. Can't believe Prongs and I never thought of that."

Hearing his nickname drew James suddenly into the conversation.

"What about me?"

Sirius scowled.

"Sirius was just saying how he couldn't believe you and he hadn't thought up the platter prank before Peter," Remus volunteered.

"Merlin! That was you then, Wormtail? Good one!"

"Thanks, James," Peter beamed.

"How'd you do it?"

"Well, like I said, it all started in the kitchens…" Peter began, happy that James was paying rapt attention to his contribution for once. Looking outside, he saw the last of the spring sunset fading away into night. Yes, sunset was his favorite time of day.

* * *

After dinner, many of the sixth-year Gryffindors adjourned to the common room or dormitories as their panicked younger counterparts hurried off to the library to begin preparing in earnest for their examinations. In her own room, Lily Evans was finally enjoying some time to catch up with her friends. Though it had been over two weeks since their last big sit down, conversation had flowed fast and free as always. Thankfully, they had wrapped up the subjects Lily wasn't particularly fond of rather quickly. If she had to hear another word from one of her housemates, let alone her close friends about what Gryffindor needed to do to win the Quidditch Cup in six weeks time, she thought quite seriously that she might scream.

As Alana Hooper tossed aside her copy of _Witch Weekly_, Marlene McKinnon nibbled on the last bit of a chocolate frog.

"So," Alana started, "think you're going to hold off Potter again this year, Lily?"

"That's the best we have to talk about now?" Lily asked dully.

"Oh, it's _far_ from the best, but it'll do for now," her blonde friend teased.

"Well, I'm sure I will," the red-headed witch said confidently. "Why should this year be any different?"

"I don't know," Marlene shrugged. "It has been though. You've got Lionel outside of class now – and dragging you down a bit in Potions if you ask me. Plus Potter's been less pranks and more studies this year thanks to Katie Wallenby. You're getting practically identical in-class marks these days."

Lily shot Marlene a dirty look.

"Hey, I'm just playing devil's advocate!" her friend protested.

"And apparently keeping a ledger of mine and Potter's grades…"

"I'm not keeping any ledger. It's just hard to miss."

"Well, it's not a competition. I'm just–"

Both other girls broke out laughing.

"What?" Lily huffed.

"I'm sorry, Lily," Alana said, still giggling, "It's just…class is _always_ a competition with you."

"I remember the day I worked out that Transfiguration assignment before you. You acted fine, but you were so furious!" Marlene added. "And that was the last time I worked out an assignment before you did if I remember."

"Hmph," Lily grumbled. "I just try to put in my best effort."

Alana and Marlene rolled their eyes before exchanging amused glances.

"Besides," Lily continued, "I always have Charms."

"And Potter always has Transfiguration," Marlene rebutted, wagging an eyebrow.

On the end of Marlene's bed where she was seated, Lily crossed her arms and scowled.

"Merlin…we're going to drive her to the library," the dark-haired witch chuckled.

A glare from her red-haired friend changed the subject.

"Anyway," Marlene said theatrically, "I did mention Lionel before. Why don't we talk about him? Bit more interesting…"

"Especially since I heard you pulled him into a broom closet last month?" Alana chirped.

Lily shook her head. "You two can be merciless."

"That's what you get when you just let us run ourselves out about _our_ favorite topics first," the blonde tutted.

"Lionel and I are just fine, thank you."

"Just fine…" Marlene mused. "Must have been some snog…"

"It was a perfectly normal snog."

"And again, the high praise…"

Lily was growing frustrated. "You're twisting my words."

"There haven't been many to twist," Marlene said reluctantly.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

Alana shrugged. "You just don't talk about him much."

"We haven't _really_ talked in nearly three weeks," Lily defended.

"Still…we get more mileage ribbing you about Potter," Alana chuckled. "Seriously Lily, how are things?"

"They're…good I guess?" the red-headed witch offered, staring off through the window behind Alana's head. "I don't know. We have nice talks. He listens to me. He does sweet things for me. You know, saving me extra treacle tart when he knows I'm planning a late night studying, waiting up for me after rounds…"

Lily paused, expecting an interjection that never came.

"I guess I just feel like I have to push him all the time to make any progress," she finished, staring intently at a loose scarlet thread on Marlene's blanket.

"What do you mean?" Alana asked.

"He's taken the lead exactly twice. Our first date and then sending me a gift at Christmas."

"He did ask you to go steady too, Lily," Marlene noted. "We were all there in the common room for his mock proposal. It was cute!"

"About that…"

"You didn't like it?"

"It was fine. A little dramatic for me honestly, but more to the point, I basically told him to before term started."

"What?" Alana gasped.

"We sort of ran into each other on New Year's Eve. My dad gave us a bit of time. I told him to then. Had to kiss him first too."

"Oh," Marlene said simply, frowning as she looked sidelong at Lily.

"What about before the broom closet?"

Lily sighed. "I really shouldn't be talking about this. He has some sort of…issue…about it. Girls dating him for the gossip I guess…"

Marlene whistled. "Sounds a bit more like a complex…"

Alana gave Lily a pitying look. "Maybe you're just both too similar," she offered. "Aside from the snogging bit of course," she finished, winking.

"Shut up." Lily gave a tepid smile, smacking her friend playfully on the arm.

"I do mean it though," Alana started again, "You're both so polite and serious…bookish too, even if Lionel's not terribly clever."

"And you plan like mad," Marlene added.

"That's been refreshing though! Someone like me!" Lily said.

"Except you're stuck in first gear," Alana muttered.

Lily suppressed the heat rising. "I'll have you know we had something of a breakthrough there – just the other night," she said, raising her chin authoritatively as she spoke.

Marlene shot Alana a warning glance. "Best to shut it…" she whispered carefully, hoping to avoid Lily's notice.

The blonde disregarded her. "Really? I mean...I don't want to be a wet blanket. I think Lionel's a super guy. It's just…this has to last the summer, you know?"

Lily harrumphed, hauling herself off the bed.

"Hey!" Alana protested. "Don't be sore, Lily!"

"Don't be sore?" Lily asked crossly. "How am I supposed to be when my best friends are after me about my boyfriend?"

"Nobody _made_ you talk about it," Marlene bit back, glaring. "You practically invited the rain clouds the way you carried on."

"I said things were fine!" Lily insisted as she grabbed her bag.

"And yet you went on after a little teasing! Don't go putting _your_ doubts on us now," the dark-haired witch snapped.

Lily harrumphed. "I'm going to study," she said, flinging the door open dramatically and leaving down the stairs.

As her friend's red hair disappeared down the staircase, Marlene called out. "Bury it all you want! You have to deal with it eventually!"

* * *

As Lily emerged downstairs she was surprised to find the common room almost empty. Of course it was just her luck that the lone exception was James Potter. His black hair was messier than ever as he stared down intently at an open book. If that sight wasn't unexpected enough, he had a stack of several others nearby. Quiet as it was, she was surprised her simple arrival hadn't drawn his attention, but now she hoped to take a window seat without his notice. The last thing she needed after her friends' harassment was contact with Potter.

Just as she sat down gingerly without making so much as a peep, her bag slipped from the seat, striking the stone floor with a loud thump. Good fortune seemed to be avoiding her like the plague tonight.

"Hello Evans," Potter said brightly.

"Hello…" she replied, dragging herself from the window seat to pick up her belongings.

As she reached out for roll of parchment that had bounced some distance away, she was surprised to encounter a hand already on it. Looking up, she saw it was Potter's. Surprisingly his other hand contained more of her things. The empty inkwell she had charmed to serve as a magnet at home. Some spare golden ribbon she occasionally used to tie back her hair. Even a quill that had somehow fluttered in his direction. Realizing they both still had hold of the parchment, she jerked her hand back quickly.

Potter didn't comment on her withdrawal, instead simply offering her things back to her with a smile that, if Lily's eyes weren't playing tricks on her, was genuinely friendly. "Figured I'd help," he said simply.

"Thanks," she said quietly.

"You know, you don't have to sit alone over there," he said casually, jerking his head to indicate the window seat.

"I know," she answered quickly. "I just wanted–"

"You just wanted to avoid me," he interrupted. "Don't worry, I get it."

"I wasn't–"

"Yes you were," he said firmly. He paused briefly before frowning and shaking his head. "You don't have to lie you know."

"Fine. I wanted to avoid you," she huffed. "Feel better?"

Potter shrugged. "A little."

"What are you working on with all those books anyway?" Lily asked.

"Charms," he said groaning.

"Charms? We don't even have an assignment."

"An assignment? Since when do I need an assignment to encourage me to do a bit of light reading?"

"Since our first lesson of first year?" Lily answered, incredulous.

"More like since I was born," he admitted. "Still, I actually do have an assignment. Set it myself at the beginning of the year."

"Setting goals now too?" Lily teased. "That's progressive of you."

"I knew you'd be shocked."

Lily rolled her eyes. "I'll bite. What are you up to then?"

"Nothing major," he shrugged. "Just trying to usurp the throne from the cleverest student in our year. I know," he said, raising his hands in surrender. "Don't think you have much to worry about. I've already been told it's impossible."

Lily paused, consciously focusing on keeping her jaw from dropping.

"Though I do feel obligated to warn you," he started, "I _am_ quite dangerous when I'm motivated."

Furrowing her brow, she decided to simply ask the question on her mind. "Why?"

The dark-haired wizard shrugged again. "What can I say Evans? I'm evolving."

Lily harrumphed.

"Anyway," he began again, "in all seriousness, those window seats are dreadfully uncomfortable. You should take the couch," he finished, gesturing toward the large plush sofa across from where he had been seated earlier. "And I promise I won't be a bother. I've got enough on my hands."

Lily considered his offer. She generally enjoyed the window seats for the view, but rain had blown in while she had been talking upstairs and the clouds made it impossible to catch a pleasant glimpse of the moon or stars. It was late. The couch would be far more comfortable.

"Alright," she answered.

Potter looked quite surprised by her answer, but he quickly moved over to the table between his seat and the couch, tidying up his area to make room for her. He even took the trouble to shove the stack of heavy books back into his bag. She had never seen true courtesy from him before. Lily stopped herself at that thought. It wasn't exactly true. He had kept her from looking a complete fool after Potions at the beginning of the year. He had picked up her things then too.

"I've made room," he offered, "Wasn't going to get to those tonight anyway."

"I wouldn't think so," Lily said as she took a seat on the couch an began unloading her bag. "Don't you have practice tomorrow?"

"I do," Potter replied, raising an eyebrow. "Though I have to say, I'm surprised you'd know that."

"Lionel," she said simply.

"Right," he nodded. "He is quite the fan…"

"He supports the team," Lily said sharply.

"Yeah…exactly," Potter answered, puzzled by the intensity of her reaction. "Does a bloody good job of it too. He's a good bloke."

The slightest frown crossed Lily's face at his last statement, her thoughts traveling back to the conversation turned argument with Marlene and Alana. She moved quickly to suppress it, but seeing an intrigued expression on Potter's face, she realized she hadn't moved quickly enough.

"Trouble in paradise?" he asked.

"Not at all," Lily covered. "I was just thinking of where to start fixing this Transfiguration essay."

Potter didn't press the point further. "I could take a look at it for you."

"Hardly," Lily said harshly. "I thought you weren't going to bother me?"

"Right…" he nodded. "I just thought maybe I could look at that and maybe you could help me with this business on 693 and 694…"

"Methods of protection against the Flagrante Curse?" she asked, peering over the book stretched out in Potter's hands. "Hardly a fair trade."

"And yet the essay is due tomorrow…"

"And you don't even need to know what you're looking at."

"But you know it. And besides, why should I _need_ to know it? Something wrong with me just _wanting_ to?"

"Of course not–"

"Fine. And I'm asking for your help. You know I don't do that often. I'll even help you first."

"I have a lot to do…" Lily resisted. "There wouldn't be time."

"It's fine. I'll help you tonight and then you can help me later. You know, whenever you're free."

Lily looked at Potter skeptically. "I could just refuse later…"

"I know. But you wouldn't."

Lily closed her eyes and twisted her neck until it cracked. She noticed Potter waiting patiently for her answer as she put her long red hair into a ponytail. "Okay," she relented. "It's a deal."

She was surprised as Potter extended a hand toward her.

"What?" she asked, legitimately puzzled.

"I just figured it might be easier to help if I'd actually read the thing."

Parchment in hand, Lily hesitated. She had never allowed another student to actually _read_ one of her essays before, not even Marlene or Alana. It would be especially disquieting to expose her work to Potter of all people. And after a professor as exacting as McGonagall had marked up her draft…but she was spared. As if sensing her discomfort, Potter withdrew his hand and scooted back slightly in his chair.

"I…" she started, feeling an odd obligation to make amends in some way.

"Don't worry about it. So…conjuration of complex creatures?"

"Right…" she began before hesitating again.

Potter cocked his head slightly and raised his eyebrows. "Look Evans, if you want to do this on your own I'm not going to be offended. I mean I'm sure we're talking about the difference between an Outstanding and even more Outstanding anyway…"

Lily swallowed her pride. "No. I do want your help." She looked down at the heavily marked up section of her essay for a moment before lifting her eyes tentatively is his direction. "I guess I just haven't had much practice asking."

She braced herself for his smirk. That incredibly vexing, infinitely irritating little curl of the right side of his lip as he derived smug satisfaction from the smallest moment of superiority. But it never came.

"Yeah, I'd imagine not," he said, shaking his head with a slight chuckle. "You _are_ bloody brilliant after all. Easy to get used to people coming to you I'll bet."

"I suppose so," Lily admitted.

A brief silence hung in the air between them.

"So what's the hang up?" he ventured.

"It's the whole concept really – the valuation. I mean I know the formula of course. Normally I don't have a problem solving it…McGonagall _always_ gives us objects or creatures in the tables, but this time…"

"No table," James finished.

"Exactly."

"Well you've just got to think outside the box, Evans."

"That's not really what I do…"

"Sure you do. You do it in Charms all the time. I mean Slughorn won't stop talking about that ruddy fish you gave him…"

"But Charms is different," Lily protested. "Transfiguration is so exact. There's no room to be inventive."

"Pssh!" he scoffed. "Course there is. I mean, think about it, when we did the Bird-Conjuring Spell, did everybody conjure the exact same bird?"

"Of course not."

"Right. Because lots of us were thinking of different birds. The fundamentals are rigid, sure. But the spells themselves…very malleable. Except for the wand movements of course."

"That's not the same though…the essay is about the _exact value_ of the formula."

"And my point is that there isn't one. There never really has been. Clearly the table isn't an exhaustive list of things you could possibly conjure. And even if you conjure a sparrow and I conjure a sparrow, there are going to differences…size, appearance, even temperament depending on your purpose."

"So you're saying I should estimate these things?"

"I'm saying use the table, but more as a point of reference. And just explain it."

"But she wants a value…"

"And she _knows_ nobody can actually give her one. It's McGonagall. Her essays have always been a bit sadistic. She's banking on most everyone giving her some simple answer, trying to justify some value out of a textbook," Potter finished animatedly.

Lily sighed and then frowned. It was a big risk to take. If Potter was wrong it would blow up in her face. And he did say he was gunning for her at the top of the class. Certainly misdirection wasn't beneath him. She would revisit the table. At worst she'd be stuck with the Exceeds Expectations she already had. It wasn't as if Potter would expand his lead in Transfiguration too greatly just on this one assignment. The best he'd get was help with a topic that wouldn't even be tested this year.

She smiled sweetly. "You know Potter, you've actually been a big help," she lied. "I think I should just be able to finish this up tomorrow before class," she added, feigning happiness.

He gave her a sort of seated bow, dramatically flourishing his hand. "Glad to be of service," he said. "Have a good night Evans."

"You too," she said politely, packing her belongings into her bag once more.

As she ascended the stairs, she smiled. She was too smart to be fooled by James Potter.

**A/N: So first, Peter finally pulled his prank! Coming up with an idea not so simplistic as to be unworthy of praise, but not so complicated as to require more than one Marauder or to defy believability (which hopefully this didn't) proved to be a way bigger challenge than I expected. Major props to the Marauders Era authors who can write so many interesting pranks because it's just downright hard. **

**As far as a little preview, my plan is to wrap up sixth year in the next four to five chapters. Again, I'll beg you not to hold me to that as a promise, but I think we're just about ready for summer, when to be as simultaneously vague and blunt as possible, things will go down. I'll also delve into some other issues I've been meaning to address, but found difficult to explore during the school year with everything else that had to be handled.**

**Most importantly, I'd been totally remiss if I didn't close with a massive thank you to all of you loyal readers out there who are sticking with this story! Just seeing your reads after each update is incredibly encouraging, as well as the time that some of you have taken to give any feedback you had to offer!**


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